STRAIGHT AND LEVEL

>-



Q
by Espie "Butch" Joyce
In this month's column, I would like
to review what will take place in the
Antique/Classic area of EAA Oshkosh
'90. The Antique/Classic Division will
continue to give participant plaques as
our way of showing our appreciation
to the people who bring their antique
and classic airplanes to Oshkosh.
A'lother way we recognize these
people who attend and showcase their
airplanes is the Interview Circle, con-
ducted by Charlie Harris . We will con-
tinue this practice in front of the An-
tique/Classic Headquarters, "Red Barn."
These interviews are a way for all ob-
servers to learn about the interesting
aircraft and their owners and restorers.
The spontaneous conversations are
both educational and entertaining.
The OX-5 Tent is a place that
everyone should visit. These people
represent a wealth of aviation history
and love to share their stories with us
all. The Division instituted a program
years ago to videotape interviews with
the OX-5ers. We hope to preserve
these peoples' experiences and adven-
tures during a golden time of aviation
so that future generations will be able
to view them. Go by and visit this
warm and fun-loving aviation group.
The people in the Type Club Tent
Headquarters hope you will come by
and visit with whatever special type
club interests you. Just a few of the
clubs represented are the Cub Club,
The Cessna 1201140 Club, the Aeronca
Club and many others . If you own one
of these aircraft or are interested in
maybe owning one, you should pay a
visit and take advantage of the wealth
of information that these clubs repre-
sent.
The Workshop Tent will once again
be in operation. Here you can observe
an aircraft undergoing an annual in-
spection; or be instructed on how to
overhaul an OX-5 engine. There will
also be a number of experienced people
there from the old school of aviation
mechanics to answer questions on the
workings of antique and classic
airplanes and engines.
The Antique/Classic Picnic will be
on Sunday night with some special en-
tertainment. This will be held in the
newly constructed Nature Center
Pavilion. This should be a fun time for
all.
To buy tickets to the picnic, get
more information or find out more
about any of the Antique/Classic go-
ings-on, come by the Red Bam. This
Headquarters for the Antique/Classic
activities is the focal point for everyone
to meet, find out what is happening or
just set a spell on the porch and watch
the world go by. We will have our
daily bulletin board posted to keep you
informed of the day's activities .
The Headquarters' staff is eager to
assist in any way possible. We also
have Antique/Classic Division mer-
chandise available for sale at the Red
Bam. After you've caught your second
wind on the porch, consider a ride on
the free tour wagon sponsored by the
A/C Division. You can sit down while
enjoying a 40-minute tour of all the
beautiful aircraft in the area. It ' s a
great break after walking around all
day.
There will be many exciting happen-
ings offered to you by your Antique/
Classic Division. Come visit with us
as we have a great deal to offer anyone
interested in old airplanes - and that
includes just about everyone, doesn't
it? Let's all pull in the same direction
for the good of aviation. Join us and
have it all.
2 JULY 1990
PUBLICATION STAFF
PUBLISHER
Tom Poberezny
\IlCE-PRESIDENT
MARKETING &COMMUNICATIONS
DickMatt
EDITOR
Mark Phelps
MANAGING EDITOR
GoldaCox
ART DIRECTOR
Mike Drucks
ADVERTISING
MaryJones
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
NormanPetersen DickCavi n
FEATlJRE WRITERS
GeorgeA Hardie.Jr. DennisParks
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
IsabelleWiske
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS
JimKoepnlck SChuppel
JeffIsom
EAAANTIQUE/CLASSIC
DIVISION, INC.
OFFICERS
President \IlcePresident
Esple"Butch"Joyce ArthurR. Morgan
604HighwaySt. 3744North51stBlvd.
Madison.NC27025 Milwaukee,Wi53216
919/427-0216 414/442-3631
Secretary Treasurer
GeorgeS.York E.E. "Buck"Hil bert
181SlobodaAve. P.O.Box424
Mansfield.OH44906 Union,IL60180
419/529-4378 815/923-4591
DIRECTORS
RobertC."Bob"Brauer JohnS.Copeland
9345S.Hoyne 9JoanneDrive
Chicago.IL60620 Westborough,MA01581
3121779-2105 508/366-7245
Phili p Coulson WilliamAEickhoff
28415SpringbrookDr. 41515thAve.. N.E.
Law1on.MI49065 SI.Petersburg,FL 33704
616/624-6490 813/823-2339
CharlesHarris StanGomoll
3933SouthPeoria 104290thLane,NE
P.O.Box904038 Minneopolis,MN55434
Tulsa,OK74105 6121784-1172
9181742-7311
RobertD."Bob"Lumley
DaleAGustafsan 1265South124thSI.
7724ShadyHillDrive Brookfield,Wi53005
Indianapolis,IN46278 4141782-2633
317/293-4430
GeneMorris StevenC. Nesse
115CSteveCourt.RR2 2009HighlandAve.
Roonoke,TX76262 AlbertLea.MN56007
817/491-9110 507/373-1674
S. H.oWes SChmid
2359LefeberAvenue
Wauwatosa.Wi 53213
414m1-1545
DIRECTOR EMERITUS
S.J. Wittman
7200S.E.85th Lane
Ocala,FL 32672
904/245-7768
ADVISORS
JohnBerendt GeneChase
7645EchoPointRd. 2159CarltonRd.
CannonFalls,MN55009 Oshkosh.Wi 54904
507/263-2414 414/231-5002
GeorgeDaubner JohnA Fogerty
2448LoughLane 479Highway65
Hartford,Wi53027 Roberts,Wi54023
414/673-5885 715/425-2455
JeonnieHili DeanRichardson
P.O.Box328 6701ColonyDrive
Harvard,IL60033 Madison,Wi 53717
8151943-7205 608/833-1291
JULY 1990 Vol. 18, No.7
Copyright1990bytheEAAAntiquel ClassicDivision.Inc.Allrightsreserved.
Contents
2 StraightandLevel/byEspie"Butch"Joyce
4 AIC NewslbyMarkPhelps
5 LetterstotheEditor
6 Calendar
Page10
7 InterestingMemberlbyBobLumley
8 Members'ProjectslbyNormPetersen
10 VintageLiteraturelbyDennisParks
14 Chi efYellowBirdlbyBuzzWagner
19 PerfectRefiectionlbyMarkPhelps
Page14
23 RedBarnGoingsOnlbyPhyllisBrauer
25 ShortWingPipersOverBrazil
Iby BrettClowes
28 1989AlCPhotoContest
32 PassItToBuck/byE.E. "Buck"Hilbert
33 Vi ntageTrader
Page19
38 MysteryPlanelbyGeorgeHardie,Jr.
FRONTCOVER...LarryLeeandson,DariusovertheFloridalandscape
in Larry's Ryan PT-22. See poge 19. Photo by Jim Koepnick. photo
planeftown byJim Dorman.
REAiR COVER ...Norm Petersen's Cub making a one-floattake-off
from the Brennand Seaplane Bose inOshkosh- withou1 Norm!The
9O-hpJ-3onEdo1320ftomsis beingflownbyits formerowner,Floyd
Bockstrom.Normtookthe picture.
ThewordsEM,ULTRALIGHT,FLYWITHTHE FIRSTTEAM,SPORTAVIATION,aM!heklgosofEXPERIMENTAlAIRCRAFTASSOCIATION INC.,EAAINTERNA-
TIONAL CONVENTION,EAA ANTIQUE/ClASSIC DIVISION INC,INTERNATIONAl AEROEIATIC CLUB INC., WARBIRDS OF AMERICA INC,are registOfed
trademarI<s.THE EAA SKY SHOPPE aM klgos of !he EAA AVIATION FQUNDATION INC.aM EAA ULTRAliGHT CONVENTION are 1rademru1<s of !he above
associations ..-.dIheiT useby atrf pe!SOI1 other!han!he above associationsisstricIIy proI>bited.
E<ltooalPolicy:Reader.; are encouraged 10 Slilmrt stories aM phoIog'aphs.Policy opinions expressed in arncIes are SOlely II10se of !he au1hors.ResponsiJilily I()(
"""'racyin reporting res1s erfuIywith !heCOOIriJuIor.Malerial sI'ootd be sent10:Efu,The VINTAGE AIRPLANE,Wittman RegionaI"'rpor1, 3000 Poberezny Rd ,
Oshkosh. WI 54903-3086.Phone:4141426-4800.
TheVINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) pJbIsOOd aMowned exclusivelybyEAAAntiqoolCiassicDivision,Ire.of!heExperimentalAircraftAssociaOOn,Ire.aM
pJt;ished monthly al Willman Regional Airport,:n:xJ Poberezny Rd., Oshkosh,WI 54903-3086.SecondClass Postage paid at Oshkosh,WI 54901 ..-.d additional
mailngoffices. rates I()( EAA AntiqueICtassic Division,nco are $18.00{Of ","entEAA members{Of 12 morihperiodof vdlich$12.00isI()(!hepublicatioo
of The VINTAGE AlRPLlINE.Merrbership open to allwho ate inlOfested in ..,;ation.
ADVERTISING- AnliqoolCIassicDivisiondoesnolguaranlee()(endorneanyproductofferedthroughour WeinviteconstructivecriticismaMwetcome
atrf report01 inferiormerchandseobtained through our advertising so thaicorrective measurescan be taken.
POSTMASTER: Send addresschanges 10 EAA Antique/Classic Division,Ire., P.O.Box 3086,Oshkosh,WI 54903-3086.
Compiled by Mark Phelps
Dues increase
EAA Vice President, Finance, Jerry
Strigel announced that the EAA Board
of Directors has approved a member-
ship increase of $2.00 for the Antique/
Classic Division effective November
I, 1990. As of that date, membership
dues will be $20.00 for an EAA
member and $30.00 for a non-EAA
member.
Calling all Connie jockeys
For those who haven't already
heard, the newly restored Super Con-
stellation, "Star of America" will be
on display at EAA Oshkosh '90. In
addition , there will be a press confer-
ence at 9:00 a.m. on Monday, July 30,
that will include a group photograph of
any pilots who once flew a Super Con-
nie. If you qualify, or know someone
else who did, you have extra motiva-
tion to attend EAA Oshkosh '90 and
participate in this historic photo oppor-
tunity. For more information, contact
EAA Public Relations Director, John
Burton (414/426-4800) or ask for de-
tails at the Airline Pilots Association
tent adjacent to the Antique/Classic Di-
vision Headquarters, Red Bam .
IJ()()I\
by Gene Chase
A PICTURE

E=3HISTORY
"U.S.

A PICTURE POSTCARD HIS-
TORY OF US AVIATION by Jack
w. Lengenfelder. 122 pages, numer-
ous black and white photos. Published
by Almar Press, 4105 Marietta Drive,
Binghampton, New York 13903.
Since the days of the Wright
Brothers, aircraft and aviation events
have been portrayed on postcards. This
unique book contains full-size photos
of postcards picturing a wide variety
of both civilian and military aircraft
from the 1903 Wright Flyer to Con-
corde.
Included with each example is the
published caption plus a brief but well-
researched description of the subject
by the author. Of interest to other col-
lectors is the source of each postcard
and a value rating from "Very Rare"
to "Very Common." An example of a
rare card is one showing the arrival in
1931 of the huge Dornier 12 engine
DO-X flying boat over New York City
at the end of a 10-month trip from
Europe .
The book was not intended to be a
definitive history of U. S. aviation but
it does cover the gamut from the early
pioneers through the barnstorming era,
both World Wars, general aviation and
the airlines. The format is chronologi-
cal and the text is excellent. This book
would definitely be a welcome addi-
tion to an aviation buff's library. As
Frank Kingston Smith states in his in-
troduction, "The objects pictured in
this book are 'artifacts' in the true
meaning of the term: they are historical
objects of Americana which tend to
make the observer think about the past
and contemplate the future.".
4 JULY 1990
Ado-it-yourselfmagazine
Dear Mark,
In the May issue of VINTAGE
AlRPLANE there is a letter from Tom
Wadsworth (in Aero Mail) requesting
more material in our magazine on the
Classic side of things. Now Mr.
Wadsworth has constructed some very
fine points in his thesis, and probably
mostofus agreewithhispointofview.
What he has overlooked is that the
VINTAGE AIRPLANE staff is very
small and can only stretch so far in
trying to please most of us. If I can
encourageTomto selectatopicamong
all ofthe Classic era airplanes and to
write about it for all ofus to enjoy, he
will have achieved his goal. He will
also gain agreatdeal ofpersonal satis-
faction from the effort. There are also
a lot ofintangible benefits such as re-
spect and friendships that seem to
bloom.
Tom does not have to be apprehen-
sive about punctuation or the rules of
grammaras theeditorand staffalways
seem to makeyou look like a lot better
writerthan you really are (the voiceof
experiencehere). When agent can put
together his words in such a clear-cut
orderas Tom has in his letter, then he
is capable ofputting a good article to-
gether, too.
M4IL
This is directed at Mr. Wadsworth
only because he wrote the letter. Can
Iencourage the rest ofyou to write on
your favorite aviation topic for VIN-
TAGE AIRPLANE? As our president
always says at the end ofhis column,
"Join us and haveit all."You will find
that all ofus like each othera lot more
when we pull in the same direction.
Let's not avoid Tom's unwritten
complaint - that the majority of
coverage seems to be on antique
airplanes. One huge reason for this is
that we older members did not apply
ourselves while many ofthe designers
and builders ofthese aircraft were liv-
ing. Now we are scrambling in an at-
tempt to cover most ofthe gaps while
some fragments of history are still
available. The second reason is that
any author can only write interesting
material when he or she is fully in-
volved in the topic. Let us hope that
Tom and his friends canavoidsomeof
the pitfalls that we encountered. They
can ifthey act now.
I hope this encourages some ofour
Classic members to try their hand at
tellingus abouttopicsuponwhichthey
are expert.
Cordially,
TedBusinger(EAA93833, A/C2333)
Evening Shade, Arkansas
Crosby CR-4
Dear Mark,
I had a hunch that someone might
somedayhaveausefor HarryCrosby's
blueprints. That's what prompted me
to save them. Harry designed several
interesting airplanes that were never
built, beginning with a "motorcycle-
of-the-air" concept in )930. He was
trying to make a living as an FBOand
designing racers on the side. One of
them gave Larry Brown the idea for
"Miss Los Angeles." Maybe soemone
among the National Air Race buffs
knows something about the Crosby/
Brown connection. Harry was killed
testing the Northrop XP-79 jet fighter
in 1945.
It was abigsurprise when [EAADi-
rector] Morton Lester called the other
day to ask me if [ had any structural
datafor theCrosbyCR-4.It seemsthat
the racer has been found but it's mis-
sing sometail feathers and a few other
bits and pieces. Harry sold the
Menasco Buccaneer engine to North-
rop to use in theN9M flying wingpro-
gram, so they'll have to dummy up a
powerplant. Anyway, theplan is to fix
it up for display in the EAA Air Ad-
venture Museum.Greatidea! It wasan
airplane ahead ofits time and one that
gave alot ofyoungengineersachance
to test their creativity. Harry's widow
is really delighted.
Best regards,
John Underwood
Glendale, California
The plot thickens. Recently, EAA
Editor-in-ChieJ, Jack Cox and Manag-
ing Editor Golda Cox were in North
Carolina (their home state) and Mor-
ton showed Jack the Crosby. He's been
hot on the trail oj the airplane's history
ever since. Even as /' m typing this, I
can overhear Jack on the phone with
Morton filling him in on how the
Crosby appeared in the movie,
"Tailspin." The airplane later spent
time on Universal Studios' sound stage
as a static dummy . The beginning oj
Jack's story appears in the "Hotline"
section oj the June issue oj SPORT
A VIATION and you can expect to read
more there in the months to come as
the story develops . - Ed .
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
July 7-8 - Emmetsburg, Iowa. Sec-
ond Annual Aeronca Champ Fly-in
and fly-in breakfast. Emmetsburg Air-
port. Contact Keith Harnden, Box 285 ,
Emmetsburg , Iowa 50536. Tel 712/
852-3810.
July 13-15 - Simsbury Connecticut.
2nd Annual Northeast Stearman Fly-in
at Simsbury Airport . Contact Jim Kip-
pen, II Crestwood Street, Simsbury,
Connecticut 06070. Tel. 203/651-
0328.
July 14-15 -lola, Wisconsin. Airport
breakfast and Old Car Show. Central
County Airport, lola, Wisconsin. Call
414/596-3530.
July 14-15 - Delaware, Ohio Air-
port, just north of Columbus ARSA .
9th annual EAA Chapter 9 Fly-In.
Food , camping & more. Contact Art
TenEyk , 614/363-6443 or Alan Hard-
ing 614/442-0024.
July 20-21 - Collingwood, Ontario.
Second Annual Gathering of Classic
Aircraft sponsored by Collingwood
Classic Aircraft Foundation. Col-
lingwood Airport (NY3). Contact
Doug Murray, 5 Plater Street, R.R.
No.3, Collingwood, Ontario, Canada
L9Y 3Z2. Tel. 705/445-5433.
July 20-21 - Coffeyville, Kansas.
Funk Aircraft Owners Association
Reunion . Contact Ray Pahls, 454 S.
Summitlawn, Wichita, Kansas 67209 .
Tel. 316/943-6920.
July 27-August 2 - Oshkosh, Wis-
consin. 38th Annual EAA Fly-in Con-
6 JULY 1990
vention, "EAA Oshkosh '90."
Wittman Regional Airport, Oshkosh
Wisconsin. Contact EAA, EAA Avia-
tion Center, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
54903-3086. Tel. 414/426-4800.
August 18-19 - Schenectady, New
York . Northeast Flight '90 Airshow ,
Schenecdady County Airport . Contact
John Panoski, Northeast Flight '90,
419 Mohawk Mall, Schenectady, New
York 12309, Tel. 518/382-0041.
August 19 - Brookfield, Wisconsin.
5th Annual Ice Cream Social spon-
sored by EAA Antique/Classic Chapter
II at Capitol Drive Airport . Contact
George Meade , 5514 N. Navajo Av-
enue, Glendale, Wisconsin 53217.
Tel. 414/962-2428.
August 24-26 - Sussex, New Jersey.
18th Annual Sussex Air Show . Sussex
Airport. Call 201/875-7337 or 702-
9719.
September 1-3 - Blakesburg, Iowa.
Culver Cadet 50th Anniversary Cele-
bration, Antique Field . Copntact
Burke Bell, 3795 Smuggler PI., Boul-
der, Colorado 80303 Tel. 303/494-
0108 or Dan Nicholson 713/351-0114.
September 8 - Chico, California.
Chico Antique Airshow. Chico Air-
port. Contact Chico Antique Airshow
Committee, 6 St. Helens Lane, Chico,
California 95926. Tel 916/342-3730.
September 14-16 - Tahlequah , Ok-
lahoma (50 miles easUsoutheast of
Tulsa). 33rd Annual Tulsa Fly-in and
10th Annual Bucker Fly-in. Contact
Charlie Harris, 3933 South Peoria,
Tulsa, Oklahoma 74105, Tel. 918/
742-7311. Bucker fans contact Frank
Price, Route 1, Box 419, Moody,
Texas 76557, Tel. 8171772-3897 or
853-2008 .
September 15-16 - Rock Falls, Il-
linois. Fourth Annual North Central
EAA "Old Fashioned" Fly-in. Pancake
breakfast Sunday . Contact Dave Chris-
tansen at 815/625-6556.
September 21-23 - Jacksonville , Il-
linois . Sixth Annual Byron Smith
Memorial Stinson Fly-in and Reunion
at the Jacksonville Airport. Contact
Loran Nordgren , 4 West Nebraska,
Frankfort, Illinois 60423 .
October 6-7 - Sussex , New Jersey
Airport . Fly-In sponsored by EAA A/C
Chapter 7 and EAA Chapters 238, 73
and 891. Info: Bill Tuchler, 2011797-
3835; Konrad Kundig, 201/361-8789/
FAX 201 /361-5760; or Paul Steiger,
Sussex Airport , 2011702-9719.
October 13 - Dayton , Ohio. Annual
EAA Chapter 610 Wright-Patterson
AFB and USAF Museum tour. Contact
Jim Hammond at 5131767-8751.
October 13-14 - Hickory, North
Carolina Municipal Airport . EAA
Chapter 731 5th Annual Fly-In . Con-
tact Norman Rainwater, 1415 Linwood
Place, Lenoir, NC 28645 ; evenings
704/578-1919 , or Lynn Crowell, 113
Auld Farm Road, Lenoir, NC 28645,
7041754-2723 .
Char1lel3ell


byl3()b Lumley
W hen I started to write this article,
I contacted the one person who knows
Charlie better than anyone - his wife
Donna. After explaining to her that I
wanted to do an article on Charlie, she
immediately volunteered to produce a
few pictures and some background in-
formation.
Most people who hang out at the An-
tique/Classic area during the conven-
tion will eventually meet up with Char-
lie or Donna. They both spend the
week helping others enjoy the Conven-
tion. Donna is usually found behind
the sales counter at the Headquarters
building and Charles working as a
judge for the NC Division where he
puts his knowledge of antique and
classic aircraft to use.
Charlie's interest in aviation was
fueled at an early age by a brother who
was an Air Force pilot and who, I am
told, will still let Charlie wash the
airplane for him. In 1966 Charlie ac-
quired a basket case Tri-Pacer and
began hi s first restoration. At the same
time he and Donna started taking flying
lessons in a Cherokee. Once the resto-
ration was complete, Charlie com-
pleted his private license in the Tri-
Pacer. They enjoyed the Tri-Pacer for
a long time but event ually sold it and
bought a Citabria and then a Cessna
182. A long-time desire for a round-en-
gine airplane finally led to Oklahoma
where Charlie bought a Fairchild 24
that had been stored for 15 years and
trucked the parts home to Sheboygan,
Wisconsin. The restoration was com-
pleted in 1983 and they flew the
airplane to EAA Oshkosh '83. Charlie
didn't enter the aircraft to be judged,
but Donna did, knowing the quality of
hi s work. The result was a very sur-
prised Charlie when he was awarded
Grand Champion honors.
Charlie's last project was the con-
version of a basket case Tri-Pacer to a
Pacer for Donna. As can be expected,
this is one of the finest Pacers in the
country. The only problem is deciding
which airplane to take to the many fly-
Charlieand Donna
ins they attend each summer. Often,
both aircraft will arrive along with their
son, Jeffery in his immaculate Stinson.
Charlie is currently working on the
restoration of a 1933 Fairchild 22 that
was purchased in pieces. This airplane
had been in storage since 1944. Watch
out, Charlie! Donna is going to have
this one judged, too.
The Bells live adjacent to their
2,500-foot grass strip a few miles from
Sheboygan. Since 1983, they have
been hosts for the October fly-in and
meeting of the Midwest Antique
Airplane Club. Charlie is the past pres-
ident of this group, an office that he
fulfilled for eight years.
Charlie and Donna, from all of us
who have enjoyed your company and
your hospitality, THANK YOU! You
both make the world of sport aviation
a better place .
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
b ~ ~ ) r - m veter-sen
Obviously one of the surviving Cessna T -50
"Bamboo Bombers," these pictures were
sent in by Herb Williamson (EM 120743,
AlC 14887) of Hillsboro, Oregon. Herb writes
that he recenlly purchased the T-50 proj-
ect which the previous owner had started.
" came with a hangar full of spare parts,
so he feels he should be able to complete
the big twin with the material on hand!
Herb has promised to keep us advised as
to the progress as the restoration con-
tinues.
8 JULY 1990
This pretty blue & white Taylorcraft BC-12D,
NC95979, SIN 8279, is the proud possession
of George B. Stearns (EM 351499, NC
15250) of Old Town, Florida. One of 2,378
BC model Taylorcrafts on the FAA register,
NC95979 was built in May of 1946, spend-
ing its early years in Ohio, Michigan and
Indiana, before moving to Florida in 1957.
It has had 22 owners since new and has
2200 hours on the airframe. George re-
ports it has been rebuilt several times and
has been put in long-term storage on two
occasions. The T-Craft is on the second 65
hp Continental engine and is flown nearly
every day! A close look at the photo re-
veals a Ward Aero wind generator hang-
ing between the gear, minus the propeller!
Our hats are tipped to George for sending
in the photo.
Sharp-eyed readers will easily identity this
Lockheed Model 18 "Electra" (Navy desig-
nation R50-6) owned and flown by Dr.
Frank Anders, Jr. (EM 350576, NC 9709) of
Villa Platte, LA. Powered by two Wright Cy-
clone 1820 engines, the Electra is in excel -
lent flying condition and is flown regularly.
Frank plans on either a polished or painted
finish and possibly a National Airlines
paint scheme. He has promised to send us
a photo when the aircraft is finished for
publication in VINTAGE AIRPLANE.
This white & blue Aeronca Chief, N85803,
SIN 11AC-218, belongs to James N. (Jim)
O'Brien (EM 345974) of Winterville, NC. Jim
is a former ultralight pilot who recently
started flying lessons and soloed just 17
days after his 63rd birthday! He is en-
thused with the Aeronca and looks forward
to getting his Recreational Pilot's Certifi-
cate. The Aeronca has 1,850 hours IT and
is still using the original Continental 65. It
had been restored in 1988 by Benjamin E.
Drake of Galion, OH. If you should need
Aeronca parts, Jim says to call the follow-
ing: Joe & Julia Dickey 812-342-6878;
Roger Davenport 608-339-6810; David Hor-
well 404-227-2932; Richard Knight 404-
228-1580; Ronnie Powers 404-227-4042
and Buzz Wagner 605-532-3862. We hope
to see Jim and his Aeronca Chief at Osh-
kosh one day.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
IA4. Lib..-aIT/4...-chives
[)i..-ectu..-
In 1932, during the heart of the De-
pression, there didn't seem to be much
interest about the World War in avia-
tion magazines. The 1932 issue of the
BIBLIOGRAPHY OF AERONAU-
TICS lists only one article on the
World War. The article was in the Jan-
uary 1932 issue of AERO DIGEST and
was titled, "Have We Forgotten the
World War" written by James E.
Fechet, a great champion of military
aviation.
Retired General Fechet was the
former Chief of the US Army Air
Corps and in 1932 was the director of
AERO DIGEST's Washington, DC
bureau and its National Defense
Editor. During 1932 he had written
more than a dozen articles supporting
military aviation in AERO DIGEST
and in WESTERN FLYING . Some of
the titles were, "An Adequate Air
Force Needed," "Our Need For Or-
ganized Reserves" and "Our Precari-
ous Military Policy."
In the article on the World War in
10JULY1990
Popular Aviation Discovers World
War I in 1932
the January 1932 issue of AERO DI-
GEST, Fechet wrote of his concerns
for the loss of the lessons of the World
War. "There has been very little evi-
dence during any of the past thirteen
years that the results , effects and les-
sons of the World War have been re-
membered or taken to heart in the
United States."
He apparently felt that as a nation,
we were slow to learn and profit by our
mistakes . Mistakes is the key word as
he feels we were only victorious be-
cause our better-prepared allies were
able to hold off the enemy until we
could prepare.
"Even then our lack of training and
equipment cost us thousands of men.
We are probably the most striking
example which history affords in all
her troubled annals, of a smug, self-
satisfied, foolish people."
He said that though we had three
million trained men in arms who had
been discharged, the effects of the
training had disappeared in the years
since. In regards to the Army Air
Corps , he lamented the small budgets
that allowed regular fliers only 120
hours of flying per year and the re-
serves, 14 hours .
"That is inadequate to keep the aver-
age pilot in training. Consider the fate
of those 5,000 reserve fliers with only
14 hours for the whole year!" The lack
of aircraft was also lamented. "In the
Army we have less than a thousand
first-class fighting planes. If we had
twice that number it would still be in-
adequate to properly defend our widely
extended frontiers."
ENTER POPULAR A VIA TION
Fechet may have worried about the
condition of the Air Corps and the loss
of the lessons of the World War, but
during 1932 in the heart of the Depres-
sion, one aviation publication, POPU-
LAR A VIA TION, did not forget the
war, in fact it had articles on World
War I aviation for almost each month
of the year and continued covering the
subject into 1933. Of the 13 World
War I articles in POPULAR A VIA-
nON , seven were about aircraft , two
about aces, two covered training, one
dog fighting and one, air medals.
TRAINING
One article on training called,
"Training Errors of the A. E. F."
seemed to mirror General Fechet' s
concerns . It presents the opinion that
poor training, inadequate equip-
ment and incompetent officers
caused needless loss of life in the
training camps of Europe. This
negative viewpoint was unusual
in a magazine such as POPU-
LAR AVIATION as it usually
gave an enthusiast's boost to
anything dealing with aviation.
Today this would be called "re-
visionist history. "
The article, written by Carl B.
Ogilvie, presents some of the
story of the first class of Amer-
ican aviation cadets to be trained
at a Royal Flying Corps field in
England, much of the informa-
tion coming from
the diary of one of
the cadets who lost
his life in France.
The cadet was in
one of the first two
groups, totaling 204
cadets, sent to Eng-
land to receive fly-
ing instruction. The
author of the diary
was worried about
the growing loss of
cadets and felt that
none would be left
to reach the fight-
ing in France.
Among his wor-
ries were the re-
quirements to loop
Jennies and spin
Camels which were
hazardous indeed.
So hazardous that
the training casualty rate in England
was much higher than that in the
United States. The author reported that
stateside training resulted in one fatal-
ity every 2,960 hours of flying . On the
other hand the diary noted that 34
deaths occured out of some 400 Amer-
ican cadets in England, a rate of one
to every 606 hours .
However, it was noted that as bad
as that was it was very low compared
to the life expectancy of a pilot at the
Front. Of the 216 American pilots sent
to Royal Flying Corps squadrons in
France, a total of 95, or 44 percent,
were killed or missing. The diary noted
the causes of the fatal accidents, not
mentioning the role of the lack of
proper instruction. Most of the
fatalities resulted from tailspins. Mid-
air collisions took the second-heaviest
toll. Nose dives with the pilot unable
to pull out were listed third . The author
concludes with, " It plainly indicates
that life for a cadet was pretty much a
bowl of backwash."
AIRCRAFT
Most of the articles dealt with the
aircraft of the war. One was a five-
page piece by a Lieutenant James M.
Richardson optimistically called, "A
Complete Summary of World War
Planes ." The author was attempting to
describe the aircraft flown into combat
by the American Squadrons. There
were 45 squadrons assigned to the
Front of which 34 saw combat. Of the
34, 15 were pursuit, 13 observation,
four day-bombing, one night-observa-
tion and one night-pursuit. The Amer-
ican squadrons flew only 10 different
aircraft types , all of which were bi-
plane tractors . These were the Spad II ,
Avion Renault 2, Sopwith I 1/2 Strut-
ter, Salmson 2-A-2, Nieuport 28, Spad
13, Sopwith Camel, Breguet 14-
A-2, Breguet 14-B-2 and de-
Havilland 4.
However, American airmen
attached to the English, French
or Italian forces flew many other
types. The author's comments
were limited to those aircraft
used by purely American squad-
rons. In the article the lieutenant
gave his opinion about some of
the aircraft.
SPAD TYPE 11
"History will probably record
the Spad II as the most unsati s-
factory warplane ever built. A
flight in the Spad
two-seater without
motor trouble was
a rarity. If the re-
duction-gear for the
propeller didn't start
grinding, then the
pilot could be sure
of an oil leak re-
sulting in an over-
heated motor.
"It's difficult to
believe that the
Spad II was a cre-
ation of the same
minds that pro-
duced the Spad 7
and the Spad 13,
among the finest
pursuit ships of the
war."
AVION
RENAULT
"The A. R. of course was out of
date in 1918. It was weak, maneuvered
like a steamroller and had tendency to
nose down to the left. By test the
machine was 24 miles an hour slower
than the modem Salmson."
SOPWITH 1 112 Strutter
'There were two interesting innova-
tions incorporated in the I 112 Strutter
- an air-brake and a trimming gear.
The trailing edge of the lower wing,
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
12 JULY 1990
,
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(A .uff.. R In.al r,,'.d ....cn ...u ,b........ ,! "'..... 1M.")
Liftillq !>url..,e of ..""'. artd fla,. oftl,
Mihtary Lo.... 'oie,,!kl of """,. S-DS, A",,,,,,.il,o,, ...
jI". Ln......"" At IQOOO all . .. 1 +.all l"r.... OC ,',,,,b.
C.c,lo",! HciqM .t ....WI rate of .,J,,,,.. I. 100 fl/"''''
t ..p!y ...atn for .... tc. coo!ed
near the fuselage, had adjustabl e fl aps
that could be altered by the pilot to
reduce speed when about to land .
' The trimming gear was to alter the
angle of incidence of the tail pl ane
while in fli ght. The pilot could thus set
the tail at the proper angle for climb-
ing, high speed or landing."
Another aircraft item was one that
gave specifications of performance for
German aircraft. These fi gures were
compiled during the war by Briti sh air
services and by the US Signal Corps.
The author stated that it was interesting
to note that the actual figures were con-
siderabl y lower than given in the lay
press and in fi ction magazines . The
table is reproduced for your informa-
tion.
NIEUPORT Type 28
"Even in building warplanes, the
French did not forget their ideas of
beauty. Thei r finest creation in thi s re-
spect was the Type 28 Nieuport . Un-
fortunately, however, the machine had
several seri ous defects which impai red
its usefulness.
" It sometimes caught on fire in the
air , and the fabric would strip off the
top wings in precipitate di ves. On sev-
eral occasions the latter defect en-
dangered the lives of American pilots
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I
a dog fi ght. In the air it 's nearly the
same. Pi cture two or more pl anes, sev-
eral mil es above a shell-tom earth;
machine guns snapping at one another;
pl anes furi ously di ving, zooming, rip-
ping and tearing at one another. In thi s
struggle between men and planes all
the savage instincts of beasts of the
j ungle are symboli zed in mad and
seemingly hecti c lunges and swi ft
acrobati cs . It is a fi ght until death . A
survival of the fittest. Dog Fight !"
In the arti cle, the author interviewed
some fi ghter pilots most of whom
stated that it was almost impossibl e for
a pilot mi xed up in a dogfi ght to give
detail s wi th any degree of accuracy be-
cause so much was happening at once.
One pilot interviewed said , "When I
came out of a scrap, all I seemed to be
conscious of was that sometimes I had
a ripped pl ane; usuall y a wheezing
motor, and that I had been fi ghting to
beat the old Harry. Even if a saw Ger-
man planes go down I seldom was
positive that I had shot them down ."
These are just some of the exampl es
of POPULAR AVI ATION 's overview
of the ai r war as it took pl ace during
the World War. Why they did thi s in
1932 is conjecture. Maybe it was to
counter the sensati onal images of
World War I aviati on being presented
by the pulp aviati on fi cti on of the time .
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13
who fl ew the Type 28."
SPAD 13
"The machine's hi gh speed was 130
mph. It climbed rapidl y, ecl ipsing the
Fokker 0 -7 in thi s respect. The service
ceiling was j ust above 18,000 feet and
the landing speed was between 60 and
70 mil es per hour (and no brakes).
"In performance, the Spad 13 and
the Fokker 0-7 were almost matched.
The Fokker maneuvered a little better,
but the Spad outclimbed and outdived
the Fokker . Their speed was a stand-
off."
DOGFIGHTING
Of course one can' t di scuss fighter
aircraft without menti oning dogfight-
ing. The 1930s was the era of World
War dogfi ght ing ficti on; "Pulps" as the
format was known . Such titl es as G-8,
BATILE ACES and WINGS pre-
sented scintillating stories of ai r-to-air
combat with thrilling titles such as
"Death Rides the Last Patrol" and "The
Tough Don' t Pray." POPULAR
A VIA TION had its own articl e on dog-
fighting called "What Takes Place In
A Dog Fi ght" by Carl Ogil vie. " Dog-
Fight ! Mad beasts snapping, snarling,
biting, leaping; battling for a strangle
hold; holding on until death - that is
CHIEFYELLOWBIRD
A reluctantseaplanepilotovercomeshis
fearoffloatingwiththehelpof
anAeronca.
14 JULY 1990
by Buzz Wagner
Few people in this world
have the knowledge and
backgound experience with
Aeronca airplanes of C. L.
"Buzz" Wagner (EM 20159,
AIC 2684) of Clark, South
Dakota. If you don't believe it, call
him at 605-532-3862. Having been
emersed in aviation for more than 40
years, Buzz has accumulated not only
a list of friends a mile long in every
facet of aviation, but a dedicated fol-
lowing through his "Aeronca Lover's
Club", which helps members gather
necessary parts to rebuild and/or mod-
ify the many models of Aeronca air-
craft. Buzz has chaired various
Aeronca forums at EM Oshkosh for
many years. If you have a problem with
an Aeronca of any size or shape,
chances are that Buzz Wagner can
help.
Now east central South Dakota,
where Buzz Wagner's Clark County
Airport operation is located, is not the
world's most popular floatplane area!
It consists ofmostly flat prairie country
with farms and ranches, and very few
places to land a seaplane. However,
sometimes a guy gets backed into a
corner with no other way out - you
know the feeling - and he has to bite
the bullet and press on, regardless.
Here are Buzz Wagner's own words:
- Norm Petersen
Many of you have known me for
years as a dedicated Aeronca Champ
fan, but I have also owned a number
of Aeronca Chiefs over the years. My
association with Aeronca Chief
N4535E, SIN IICC-243, began sev-
eral years ago when a friend, Paul Jas-
pers of Walker, Minnesota, hauled his
11 CC Chief down to my shop in South
Dakota for an engine change. The
Chief, with a Continental C-85 engine,
was mounted on Edo 1400 floats and
on a warm day, the performance was
pretty marginal! As the engine needed
overhaul, it seemed like a good time
to make some changes.
Paul had located a low time Lycom-
ing 0-235 CIB which runs on 80 oc-
tane or auto fuel and puts out 115 hp
at 2,800 rpm. Of interest was that this
Chief - really an S II CC - came right
out of the factory on floats and had
never been on its wheels . It had been
purchased by PeeKay Float Corp. and
used to get approval on their 1500
floats using Edo struts .
The fabric was in good shape and it
had a rather awesome paint job with
bright yellow poly tone and no trim at
all. We installed the 0-235 engine with
a full electrical system, which is part
of the STC, so you don't have to stand
on the float and fall in the lake trying
to start it! In addition, we installed a
new interior to clean up the cabin and
found a used set of wheels to fly it
back to Minnesota. When converted
back to floats, it turned into a real
tiger, jumping off the water quickly,
climbing at a much faster rate and
cruising at an easy 95-100 mph.
After a couple of years, we had the
floats in the shop for heavy bottoms
(thicker skin) and dual water rudder in-
stallation. In addition, each year meant
a trip north to do an annual inspection
and enjoy some float flying.
One day, a couple of years ago, dur-
ing a phone conversation, my friend
said he had decided to sell the Chief.
After trying to talk him out of it, I told
him that if he insisted on selling, I
would buy it - which I did! So now I
owned a seaplane, but with no seaplane
rating. My wife was ill and I could not
get away to go up there, so it sat in his
hangar for a year.
At this point I should admit that I
was always a little reluctant to get in-
volved in floatplane flying . The flying
part did not worry me but I swim like
a rock! Once I had a boat sink under
me in the Gulf of Mexico and although
I was in the Air Force, I got to ride in
a bunch of Navy boats. Anyway, I was
never too enthused about being out on
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
the water - my land planes always went
on "automatic rough" over any large
body of water! However, with a
floatplane on hand, my chance for a
seaplane rating had come, so I decided
to give it a try.
We finally managed a week off in
the spring, so my son and I flew the
Bonanza up to Walker, Minnesota and
dusted off the "Yellow Bird". We did
an annual inspection on it, shoved it
into the lake and did a run-up. I had
read Jay Frey's Edo book on flying
floats and also Gordon Newstrom's
book, "Fly a Seaplane," plus talking to
everyone I ran across who had been on
floats.
The "BASE" at Walker on
Kabekona Bay (on the west side of the
much larger Leech Lake) has a pro-
tected inlet that requires some skill in
entering and leaving, especially if it is
windy. Luckily, they don't have wind
like we do in South Dakota! We called
a floatplane instructor and after about
30 minutes of ground school, we
pumped out the floats and cruised out
into the lake. (Ed. note: ALL floats
leak, some more than others!)
The water rudders were down to
maneuver in the channel and once on
the open water, I raised the rudders
and the Chief immediately weather-
vaned into the wind. With the wheel
all the way back, I did a run-up and a
mag check. The nose was so high I
couldn't see over it! Next came high-
speed taxiing, on the step - wheel back
- full power - nose way up - watching
the spray under the floats. It moves
back as the speed increases - almost at
once, it goes back even with the float
struts. Forward pressure - oops - too
much and it starts to porpoise - light
back pressure and she pops on the step.
Now, setting nearly level, the speed
picks up so we ease off the throttle to
just enough power to keep it on the
step. Now for the tum, we "fly" the
airplane around in a big tum. We are
using aileron, keeping the speed right
and the nose low enough so it won't
take off. A little hairy! This airplane
will tum either way, although the tor-
16 JULY 1990
que makes a left turn easier and I am
told many airplanes will not turn to the
right. A little scary, but it works.
NOW we have survived that , so it is
time to go flying.
Into the wind - wheel back - full
power. It comes up on the step fast.
Let the speed build a little - apply back
pressure and she flies right off. No use
climbing very high, a couple of
hundred feet is fine over water. Shoot-
ing landings is just like on land - into
the wind - let down at 65 mph - nose
up just a little as she touches down.
These were power-on landings , so I
asked what happens if the engine quits.
I soon found out as the instructor shut
it off! No sweat, but it does settle in
right after landing!
Really beautiful - if done right - you
can feel the waves tickling the tail of
the floats just before it touches down.
Again, these were power approaches
all the way to the water. It comes down
on the step and if you have some dis-
tance to go, you keep the power just
right to keep it on the step and taxi to
where you want to go. When you DO
cut power, it settles into the water with
a "whoosh". Water taxiing is SLOW
to keep spray from hitting the prop. It
will eat the prop just like gravel - or
worse! On the water, you are a boat -
but a poor one! Imagine a large weath-
ervane. The rudders are down and you
have to allow for wind drift, current
etc. With the instructor coaching, we
had some more practice on drifting,
boating and getting where you want to
go.
This is completely different from
land flying where you go to an airport
and they will usually have a designated
runway where you land, fuel , tie
down , etc . With a seaplane, YOU
ARE ON YOUR OWN! You decide if
you have enough lake to land on and
which way you should land (so you
don't have to taxi a mile or more to the
dock, beach or whatever.) It is nice to
have an engine that will burn boat gas
- as that is what you will find. You will
also find that nearly all boat piers have
poles sticking up ready to tear the
wings or break the struts - or worse!
And don't forget the large waves that
bang you into the dock!
Back to the flying. Another thing we
practiced was "glassy water" landings.
I was lucky and had two days of glassy
water to practice on. The water is so
clear you can see right to the bottom
so you don't KNOW how high you are
above the water. I practiced landing
right over the shoreline, coming down
the beach and landing just off the
beach, and also the standard instru-
ment type approach where you level
the wings and set up a standard des-
cent, watching the gauges (the few
there are in a Chief!) until you hit the
water. Mostly, you hold the airspeed
constant which in a Chief - say 70 mph
- is a little nose down . This made me
a little nervous as these things can turn
into a submarine pretty easy. Any little
wake or wave, such as from a boat,
helps the depth perception just as you
touch down. We also tried coming in
over islands, rocks, etc . to see how
close we could land.
Well, things went pretty well. Of
course, I hadn ' t started flying yester-
day and had flown this airplane before
with my friend . After an hour, the in-
structor said I should get at least 10
hours of practice and he would then
ride with me again before I went for
my checkride.
It turned out that I flew some 12
hours, but then [ had to go home to
South Dakota. A couple of weeks later,
I was able to get back and make an
appointment with the inspector for the
check ride. I flew the Chief over there
(nearly 100 miles!) and things were
going well, BUT, the first thing he
wanted to see was the aircraft log
books. Naturally, they were at home!
What to do? Inspiration - I am an A &
P with Inspection Authorization, so I
bought a pair of log books and signed
off an annual - and we were in busi-
ness! I filled out a bunch of other pa-
pers and it was time to fly .
Out on the lake we proceeded, with
a good strong wind blowing. The take-
off was okay . We flew about five miles
over to a small lake - came in over the
trees - got it down quickly - stayed on
the step with a left 360 step-turn, wide
open throttle and climbed out of there.
We jumped over some hills, around a
turn, in low over a dam, made a touch
& go, around another hill and a narrow
pond with trees on the end. Again, no
problem - in and out. We flew back to
the seaplane base and landed down-
wind, crosswind and step-taxied right
up to the dock! He was satisfied and
so was I!
I left out a lot of the little stuff but
at least you get the idea. You OLD
seaplane pilots are probably bored
stiff, if you got even this far. For my
12 hours practice, I would go to the
farthest down wind of a string of lakes,
come in over the trees and land, take
off and land again , hop over the trees
and do the same on the next lake. Fi-
nally, I would work my way up to the
big lake (Leech), pick spots and make
landings all across it.
Eventually, I got to love the Chief
on floats and can now fly over water
all day without worries. My only regret
is that my wife, L1oydine, whom so
many of you knew from Oshkosh,
passed away June 15, 1989, without a
chance for me to take her for a seaplane
ride. A true pilot and aviation promoter
all her life, she used to hand prop a
Champ to go and visit her friends, al-
though she was only five feet tall!
I have a small prairie lake three
miles from Clark, South Dakota that is
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
I
useable in thespringandearlysummer
before the water goes down and also
two large lakes within 25 miles, one
with a landingstrip right by the water ,
so I can fly over for a visit.
During the fall of the year, I tried
three times to get the Chiefhomefrom
Minnesotawithoutsuccess- weathered
outeachtime.Thedistance isjustright
for making the trip non-stop with a
slight tailwind. With a 20 mph head-
wind, the Chief would fall 60 miles
short . There are lakes on the first third
ofthe trip, NOTHING on the second,
a long lake with a boat dock on the
third and then open country until al-
most home.
Let me say that I'ma bit new at this
going cross country on floats and did
not like the idea of landing in some-
body's pasture (although I was told it
could be done). Perhaps I could stand
losing the airplane, but the Lycoming
is a great engine, doesn't use
any oil and I would hate to
bend it up, not to mention the
floats!
Finally, we wereable togo
north toward the end ofOc-
tober. IfIdidn' tgettheChief
home soon, the lakes would
be hard and the airplane
would have to sit over the
winter. All the lake resorts
were closed by this time, so
fuel would be a problem but
I decided this was IT, so I
fired up the engine and took
off into a 42 knot headwind!
Itried to beach the floats but it was too
steep, the floats just bobbed up and
down along the shore. I jumped out
with my 60-footrope and tied the strut
to a pier on shore.
Runninguptothestore, Idiscovered
the boatpumphadbeendrainedforthe
winter but a car pump in front ofthe
store was still operating. Somesearch-
ing located a four-gallon plastic fuel
can, so Iused my funnel and afterfour
orfive trips, theChiefwas full offuel.
We lost about as much blowing away
in the wind!
Imanagedto get the tail ofthe floats
partly on shore, rolled up the rope,
jumped in and just as the wind was
ready to make the airplane "swap
ends," the engine caught. I fed in full
throttleandtheChiefpulledawayfrom
shore. The waves pounded the floats
like solidcement, butthe wings finally
lifted us clear of the violent impacts
friend's house on the south shore,
made a tight tum and put the old girl
down, headed straight into the beach.
His son came out and we managed to
get the plane on shore, sink some an-
chors and tie it down. My home-made
control locks were installed and
jumpedin mypickupanddrovehome.
Immediatelythereafter, Iwassweat-
ing out the lake freezing over, so Ihad
to get the Chief home somehow. A
couple offriends from Canadastopped
by to visit and they wanted to see the
floatplane. We drove overthere in the
rain, taking an extra drive around the
lake, trying to find a spot to put the
wheels on to fly it home. As we came
upto the parkedChief, my friend, who
has aChampon floats, justhad to hear
it run, so we started it up and pushed
it into the water. He was dying to fly
it, so I said, okay - we would just fly
itovertoClarkandlandonthegrass!
It was raining and almost
darkasweapproachedtheair-
port, circled a friend's house
andmadeasmoothlandingon
the grass. In no time, we
placed the trailer under the
floatsandrolledtheChiefinto
thehangarforthewinter. (We
had plenty of help!) How
would I get it off in the
spring?Well, I had all winter
to think about it.
The grass landing? It was
really noproblem. Wepicked
a spot and came in about 60
mph, letting the heels of the
Ihadcalledanoperatoronthe floats touch first. The Chief
Pondering the sanity of flying a chief on floats when you don't
long lake, two thirds of the knowhowtoswim,BuzzWagnerposesinfrontofthe"YellowBird". just settled in and slid to a
way home, and he had five
gallons ofgas ifI wanted to stop.
In theairit wasROUGH! Iwas sure
a Model TFordcouldhavepassed me!
IcameacrosstheendofBigPineLake
and was already on the auxiliary tank.
There was no one on the beaches and
no sign of life, so I pressed on. Big
Otter Tail Lake came up and I soon
realized the fuel situation was getting
critical. I crossed to the south shore,
feeling the waves would be smaller -
no such luck! Nobody, but nobody
seemed to be around, so I swung west
and rantheshoreline.Clearonthewest
end, out in all the wind (and waves),
I spotted a Mobil gas pump on the
beach. "AHA, boat gas!" I saw what
looked like a small store next to the
pump. Now if it were only open! I
came around and dropped the Chiefin
the waves next to shore after holding
it offalmost all the way to the pump.
18 JULY 1990
and I headed for home. Theheadwind
seemed to be a bit less severe as, ac-
cording to my navigation checks we
were making better time. (Float plane
pilots are neverlost - onlytemporarily
confused!)
The long lakefinally hoveinto view
with the wind right down the middle
of the lake from the southwest, so I
decided tochanceitandtryforPelican
Lake, south ofWatertown. It's about
40 miles from home but there is a fil-
ling station about one block from
shore. The Aeronca was riding like a
roller coaster in the choppy air and I
didn't need any more water landings
than absolutely necessary.
Finally, about five miles out, I was
able to identify Pelican Lake in the
haze. The aux tank was dry and the
main tank gauge was bouncing offthe
bottom. I made a swing over my
stopin 204feet! Ireallydon't
think it makes any difference if it is
wet , frosty ordry. Thedirt was fairly
softand only the keels made any mark
atall. ItwentstraightaheadandIthink
that is the important thing. Ifit turned
at all, it could have spoiled my whole
day!
Sincethen, Ibuiltaspecial trailerto
retrieve the Chief from the lake. Our
lakes have big enough waves that you
cannotleavethefloatplaneontheshore
for very long. In addition, I built a
hoisting trailer that lifts the Chiefand
moves it around after landing on the
grass. Beyond that, I built a dolly for
taking offfrom the runway orgrass. I
have not had a chance to try all these
machines yet, but I suspect they will
work - at least as long as the heavy
bottoms on the floats hold up!
Happiness is an Aeronca Super
Chiefon floats!
CT
FLECT
by Mark Phelps
Photos by Jim Koepnick
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
Larry Lee was returning to his home
airport near Atlanta one evening at
dusk. Thunderstorms were lighting up
the distance like a Vincent Price movie
but the air around his Ryan PT-22 was
smooth enough. Every time the light-
ning flashed, however, it reflected off
the polished aluminum skin so brightly
that the tower controller told him he
had a, "lightning-colored airplane."
Larry is a 44-year-old plastics man-
ufacturer from Atlanta who has been
flying since the mid-1960s. "My father
had an interest in aviation in the
1920s," he said, "and my brother-in-
law was a flight instructor when I was
in high school in Miami . Even though
I wouldn't be able to afford much fly-
ing then, it seemed like a good time to
get my ticket." While a senior at Geor-
"IT WAS A
ROUGH ORANGE
HULK WHEN
THE WORK
BEGAN."
gia Tech, Larry started his own prod-
uct-development business and has been
going strong ever since. From early on,
aviation has played a powerful role in
his business. Over the years he has
owned three different Mooneys, half
of a Skyhawk and Schweitzer 134
sailplane. Besides the Ryan, Larry also
currently owns a Piper Malibu which
he flies for business and vacation trips.
He also met his wife, Cathy while
at Georgia Tech and the couple have
two sons, David, 21 and Darius, 16.
David is an instrument-rated pilot and
Darius holds a student certificate.
David is now en route to California for
the big Ryan reunion and Larry will be
joining him early next week. He said
that when David landed the Ryan at
Aero Country Airport north of Dallas,
the FBO had just opened hi s mail and
was admiring the pictures of the Ryan
in the May issue of VINTAGE
AIRPLANE (Sun ' n Fun '90, page 8)
when it landed and taxied up to the
ramp in front of him .
Larry has 5,000 hours' flying time
but thi s is the first antique and the first
taildragger he has flown. He does have
about 500 hours in sailplanes . Larry
says it took him a year to talk Rick and
Janet Loomis of Flabob Airport in
California into selling the Ryan . It took
them 12 years to restore and it has been
flying for about four years . Their
scrapbook on the airplane reveal s that
it was a rough orange hulk when the
work began . Like all the fine work the
Loomis' perform, the PT-22 was a
complete job - taken to the bare bones
Larry Lee and son, Darius.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
and worked up from there. Every nut
and bolt was removed and replaced and
the fuselage was sandblasted and
treated. The entire airplane was reskin-
ned although the spar is original.
Larry says that the intricately curved
sections of cowling on his airplane
came from a wreck that sat in the High
Sierra for 30 years. Rick saw a news-
paper story about the discovery of the
wreckage and recognized the pictures
as those of a Ryan. He also knew that
this was not a wreck that was "known"
among dedicated Ryaneers. When he
arrived on the scene of the accident,
other Ryan fans were there first, going
through the pieces. Larry says that a
disappointed Rick made an off-hand
comment about wishing he could get
those cowl pieces, and the first-claim-
ers handed them to him for free.
With all the new skin on the PT-22,
the shiniest and deepest glow comes
from those sensually-curved cowling
sections that sat in the High Sierra for
22 JULY 1990
30 years . Larry doesn't know if it's
something about the old aluminum-
making process or what, but he says
"'WEVEBEEN
HAVING A
BALL WITH
THE RYAN.'"
those pieces polish out to the purest
and bluest sheen.
Larry says that with all the Loomis'
Ryans to be flown and exercised, this
one only had about 100 hours on it
when they bought it. In less than a year
they have put more than twice that
amount of time on the airplane. After
the Ryan celebration in California,
Larry plans to fly the PT-22 to Osh-
kosh this summer.
Larry loves to fly and confesses that
his out-of-town clients are likely to see
more of him than his in-town clients
based around the comer from his of-
fice . "If I can fly there, I'm more apt
to go," he says. This summer the Lees
hope to fly to Alaska in the Malibu and
they regularly take scuba diving vaca-
tion trips to the Caribbean. "I love the
Malibu for cross-country travel, but
we've been having a ball with the Ryan
just flying around and doing simple ,
downhill aerobatic maneuvers. I had
heard stories about how nasty the
airplane was in the stall and on land-
ing, but I haven't found that to be the
case. I think I enjoy flying it more and
more all the time.".
RED BAI{N
GOINGS ON
A visit to EAA Oshkosh would not
be complete without a stop at the Red
Bam, Antique/Classic Division's offi-
cial headquarters. Co-chairmen, Katie
Morgan of Milwaukee, Wisconsin and
Ruth Coulson of Lawton, Michigan ,
along with their volunteers promote the
AIC Division of EAA, offer AIC mem-
berships and merchandise and assist
people with their questions. "The
building also serves as a meeting place
for pilots and friends ," says Ruth .
During convention week the Red
Bam is a beehive of activity and, "Hec-
tic isn ' t the word for it," says Ruth,
especially during the first three or four
days. "We process EAA and AIC
by Phyllis Brauer
memberships, sell T-shirts, sweat
shirts, hats and AIC tietacks and jack-
ets. We assemble and present plaques
to pilots who fly their antique or classic
airplanes into our area, make conven-
tion passes into badges , and sell books
and magazines for the EAA Air Ad-
venture Museum and VINTAGE
AIRPLANE".
In "off moments" the staff takes in-
coming calls, delivers messages and
answers what seems like a million
questions. People want to know where
the bathrooms are , the locations of the
various forum tents, how to find the
first aid station, where to rent a golf
cart and where a particular airplane is
parked on the field.
Katie explains that the first four days
are the busiest because so many people
are interested in getting convention
badges made and seeing what new
merchandise is being offered . "After
that it begins to slow down, and by
Thursday, it's fairly calm, " adds Ruth.
Busy as it is during the Fly-in , work
at the Red Bam begins weeks in ad-
vance . "I usually spend most of the
weekends of July in Oshkosh preparing
for the Convention," says Katie. "Our
first project is to clean out the Red
Bam . Over the course of the year the
place gets pretty dirty . The debris in-
cludes everything from dead mice and
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
Katie Morgan closes a sale. Ruth Coulson answers a question.
birds to empty acorn shells and mil-
lions of cobwebs. After a good spring
cleaning, we put out all of our mer-
chandise and back issues of VINTAGE
AIRPLANE magazine ."
"At the beginning of the conven-
tion ," says Katie, "we open the Red
Barn at 7:00 a.m. and stay until at least
7:00 p.m. Later in the week, we don't
open until 8:00 a.m. and are usually
there until 7:00 p.m. , and yes, the little
tootsies get rather tired."
After the convention Katie and Ruth
are faced with the tasks of cleaning up ,
putting the magazines in storage, re-
turning merchandise to the EAA
Wearhouse, taking inventory and
figuring out what should be done with
unsold items. "We also try to deter-
mine who our regular volunteers will
be for the next year," Ruth says .
"We appreciate all of our volun-
teers," she continues, "and we could
not do without them. They have been
friendly, helpful, fun and knowledge-
able and have come from many profes-
sions and from all over the country.
We have had flight attendants, nurses,
mail carriers, beauticians and pilots .
They have ranged in age from young
single women to grandmothers ." Dur-
ing the last convention key volunteers
were Betty Anderson of Boerne,
Texas , Donna Bell of Sheboygan ,
Wisconsin, Dee Doyle of Oshkosh and
Fay Gustafson of Indianapolis, In-
diana.
Anyone (male or female) who wants
to volunteer at the Red Barn need only
show up and, "We will put you to
work," says Ruth, "selling merchan-
dise , making badges, presenting
plaques, taking memberships or
answering questions ."
"All you need is a friendly smile and
the willingness to be helpful," says
Katie. "Working in the Red Bam gives
24 JULY 1990
you an opportunity to meet many fan-
tastic and great people and to form
lifelong friendships. I feel that I could
travel the world over and always have
a friend wherever I would be. I've had
the opportunity to meet such people as
Cliff Robertson, Mom Rutan (mom to
Burt and Dick) plus many, many
more."
Katie' s first convention was in
1974, and she has not missed one
since. Because she and her husband
Art were most interested in classic and
antique airplanes, the first place they
headed after setting up their tent was
AIC headquarters . "In no time at all I
had a paint brush in my hand and was
painting bulletin boards. Before long I
was inside the Red Barn helping Edna
Viets and Dorothy Weick , and away it
went from there . I became co-chair-
man a few years later and then chair-
man in 1979."
Her work at the Red Barn has also
been recognized by the Midwest An-
tique Airplane Club. Last November
the club presented her with its annual
award for "Female Antiquer of the
Year. " Joe Simandl , the organization's
secretary-treasurer, said that Katie was
chosen to receive the trophy because
of, "many years of religious service at
the Red Barn and for being an all-
around nice gal."
A way from the convention Katie is
Mrs. Art Morgan and keeps herself
busy with husband, cats and her job as
branch finance representative for
American Family Insurance in Mil-
waukee.
Ruth first attended an EAA conven-
tion in 1962 when the fly-ins were held
in Rockford, Illinois. Her career did
not permit her to return until 1972
when she and her husband, Phil came
to Oshkosh for a weekend . "From that
time on we started to take a week's
vacation and have been returning every
year since. Phil started doing volunteer
work in 1974, and after a few years I
was getting bored doing nothing. He
suggested that I too should become a
volunteer so I went to the Red Barn. I
loved it and liked working with Kate.
After the 1981 convention Kate tele-
phoned me and asked me to be her co-
chairman. I was pleased and hoped that
I could do the job."
"Aviation people are the greatest, "
Ruth says enthusiastically. "I enjoy
getting to know and to talk to aviation
veterans such as Jessie Woods , Dale
and Dean Crites and Ray Brooks. This
past convention was most exciting be-
cause of the opportunity to see so many
Jennies together. Such an event will
probably never happen again in my
lifetime, and for a biplane lover the
memories shall I inger forever. "
In addition to flying in Phil' s open
cockpit biplane or one of their two
Wacos or Beech Bonanza, Ruth is a
lover of wildlife. "I enjoy feeding birds
and working outdoors in my flower
garden." Ruth is also on her local li-
brary board and a Rotary member and
works as a loan counselor for a savings
and loan institution.
Both Katie and Ruth soundly reject
the idea that the EAA convention is of
interest only to pilots. They feel that
the people who come to Oshkosh make
their time with the AIC Division so
much fun . "Try volunteering some-
where on the convention site,"
suggests Katie. "You will be surprised
at what a great time you will have and
the number of fantastic friends you will
meet."
The 1990 convention is close at
hand , and many volunteers will cer-
tainly be needed. How about it?
SHORT-WINGPIPERS

etc.
overBrazil
EAAsupervolunteer,BrettClowesfilesaremote
report onourkind ofaviation activityin
SouthAmerica.
Dear Mark ,
The role of film enclosed hopefull y
has some pi ctures you may be in-
terested in - mostl y of short-wing
Pipers I found at Sorocoba, Sao Paulo,
Brazil . They are scarce here and the
group I found accounts for most of
them. The owners are very enthusias-
ti c. At the slightest query from me they
downed tools and emptied the hangar
for photos. I flew the Pacer around for
about half an hour, the owner wisely
doing the parts of the flight involving
the ground. Later we went for an even-
ing flight in the Vagabonds. A most
enjoyable tail chasing session ensued,
with some low passes down a strip of
land that they owned. Earlier they had
shown me the plans they had drawn
for an airport community; construction
is due to commence shortly. The strip
will be on the ridge of a hill among
beautiful undulating farmland .
I was a little concerned by the fact
that at one end of the proposed air strip
exists a stud farm of the equestrian
type. But our low passes were ignored
completely by the horses .
The two pilots, Luiz Richieri and
Luiz Vettorazzo also demonstrated
some of the closest formation flying
I've enjoyed. One is ex-military and
has been training the others in forma-
tion work, with good results.
They are planning a Piper formation
arrival to the EAA fly-in at Porto
Alegre in April. I'm looking forward
to seeing that! I plan to attend and col-
lect as much info and photos as possi-
ble. I know they would enjoy seeing
their event covered in VINTAGE
AIRPLANE.
This is just the first stuff I have got
together so far; there will be more.
Paul told me to send rolls of film, so
show him this stuff too. I don't know
if you can use it, or if you want to wait
and see what else I can come up with.
All the people at Soracoba are EAA
members; some have been Antique/
Classic Division members too, al-
though they may not be current.
The gliders in the pictures are owned
by the Bauru Aero Club. One is a Lais-
ter-Kauffman built in America. I was
told this one was originally a single-
seat model modified by the club many
years ago to two seats. The other is the
only airworthy Spalinge 25 in the
world (a non-flying one exists in Ger-
many). I flew this for three and a half
hours on Christmas Eve. Beautiful air-
craft! The club has many other old
gliders among its modem fiberglass
aircraft. Bauru Aero Club has a rich
history; I will get more info on it. (I'm
a member.)
Please keep the negs for me. I'll
keep in touch. By the way, I got the
copy of VINTAGE AIRPLANE with my
picture in it; thank you very much. I'm
waiting now for the fortune to follow
my fame.
See you in the summer,
Brett
26 JULY 1990
1948 PA-17 Vagabond, serial number 17-185 with a C-65 Continental.
1946 90-hp Aeronca 7AC, serial number 4563 owned by Jackson Moreia.
"At the slightest query they downed tools and emptied the hangar tor photos."
The world's only airworthy Spalinge 25.
Laister-Kauffman two-place training glider
of World War II vintage.
After chickening out on spending the
winter in Wisconsin, Aussie Brett Clowes
returned this spring from Brazil with stories
of beautiful women and vicious piranhas.
Or was that the other way around? In be-
tween adventures, he snapped these pic-
tures of some familiar and not-so-familiar
airplanes. G'day mate! - M.P.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27
1989
ANTIQUE
& CLASSIC
PHOTO
CONTEST
1st Place Ground to Ground (Water?) - Bill McCarrel
28 JULY 1990
1st Place Ground to Air - l.w.Stephenson
1st Place Air to Ground - LeRoy Falk
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
2nd Place Ground to Ai
r - Richard Hyde
3rd Place Ground to Ground - Myron Heimer
30 JULY 1990
1989
ANTIQUE
& CLASSIC
PHOTO
CONTEST
Chairman's Choice - Myron Heimer
Ground to Ground - Honorable Mention - MaDonna McMahan Judge's Choice - Dan Majka
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

An information exchange column with input from readers.
Dear Mr. Hilbert,
I' ve been reading VINTAGE
AIRPLANE for a few years now. It's
been quite interesting. For a long time
I thought having a real vintage airplane
was for the rich . Well, I finally have
my chance. A couple of days ago I
traded my Piper Vagabond project for
a Wiley Post Biplane. The all-wood
project is of exceptional craftsmanship
in Honduran mohogany . It's in various
pieces at present but I'm determined to
see it fly. My only problem is that I
know of only one other one in exis-
tence! It's in the Kirkpatrick Museum
in OKC. So I thought maybe you could
assist me in locating more information
about this airplane. I obtained only a
one-sheet, three-view drawing of the
airplane general arrangement. Well, I
hope you can assist me in this venture.
Thanks.
Sincerely,
Robert J. Cravey, Jr.
c/o 960 I Sonata Court
Midwest City , Oklahoma
Hello Robert Cravey;
A Wiley Post! WOW! I won't ask
where you came upon this project. I'll
just say you really do have a rare one.
The only Wiley Post I have ever seen
was in Bloomington, Illinois back in
the 1960s. It belonged to Dave and
Marion McClure. I have no idea
whether the McClure brothers are still
around or not - that was a long time
ago. I'll be at BMI next Tuesday and
I'll ask if the boys are still active and
then maybe you can contact them. (The
Wiley Post in this picture is currently
registered to Marion McClure in
Bloomington. The picture was appa-
rently taken about the same time Buck
saw the airplane. - Ed.)
One reason that data is so hard to
32 JULY 1990
come by is that the FAA back in the
1960s decided to donate all inactive
files to the Smithsonian Institution .
The FAA's engineering districts such
as Kansas City, New York and Califor-
nia boxed up all these outdated files
and shipped them to Washington. They
were stored in the basement of one of
the FAA buildings at National Airport.
Someone forgot , however, that the
Smithsonian is a private organization
and the U.S. Government needs an act
of Congress to GIVE something away
so those 50 boxes of specs, drawings
etc. languished in that basement for
years.
Requests for information from these
files were forwarded to the custodian
and he invited people to come to DCA
and look through the boxes for the in-
formation they wanted. Unfortunately
there was no supervision of these
by Buck Hilbert
(EM 21, NC 5)
Po. Box 424
Union, IL 60180
people rummaging through the files
and a lot of the stuff disappeared. No
one knows who got it or where it went.
In about 1965, a whole raft of the stuff
came up for SALE and the FAA caught
the rascal and recovered the stuff he
had, but it wasn' t anywhere near the
total that was missing. Of more than
50 boxes originally stored, there were
less than four boxes worth remaining
when I last saw them.
I hope you took your tape measure,
camera and a notebook when you vis-
ited the Kirkpatrick Museum because
I'm certain that is the best source of
information on your airplane. Good
luck and let me know how you are
progressing.
Over to you,
Buck .
Wiley Post biplane.
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet...
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tion. STREATOR AIRPORT, CENTRALILLINOIS.
R.S.V.P. RESERVATIONS, 815/672-8344. Motor
vehicles welcome.(7-1)
HISTORIC AVIATION VIDEOS - $8.88 and up!
Collecttherare videosofyourchoice!Largestcol-
lectionatlowestprices!Eachvideouptotwohours
long, with several films! FREE LIST! Write to:
SEMINAR PUBLISHERS, 210 Fifth Avenue, New
York, NY 10010. (7-1)
HANGARS:
Airplane Hangars - Save up to 50% on Arch
Style Steel Buildings. Factory clearance on 50 x
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MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION
EAA
Membership in the Experimental
Aircraft Association, Inc. is $35.00
for one year, including 12 issues of
Sport Aviation_ Junior Membership
(under 19 years of age) is available at
$18.00 annually. Family Membership
is available for an additional $10.00
annually. All major credit cards accepted
for membership. FAX (414)426-4873.
ANTIQUE/CLASSICS
EAA Member - $18.00. Includes
one year membership in EAA An-
tique-Classic Division, 12 monthly
issues of The Vintage Airplane and
membership card. Applicant must
be a current EAA member and must
give EAA membership number.
Non-EAA Member - $28.00. In-
cludes one year membership in the
EAA Antique-Classic Division, 12
monthly issues of The Vintage Air-
plane, one year membership in the
EAA and separate membership
cards. Sport Aviation not included.
lAC
Membership in the International
Aerobatic Club, Inc. is $30.00 an-
nually which includes 12 issues of
Sport Aerobatics_ All lAC members
are required to be members of EAA.
WARBIRDS
Membership in the Warbirds of
America, Inc. is $30.00 per year,
which includes a subscription to
Warbirds. Warbird members are
required to be members of EAA.
EAAEXPERIMENTER
EAA membership and EAA EXPERI-
MENTER magazine is available for
$28.00 per year (Sport Aviation not
included). Current EAA members
may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER
for $18. 00 per year.
FOREIGN
MEMBERSHIPS
Please submit your remittance with
a check or draft drawn on a United
States bank payable in United
States dollars.
Make checks payable to EAA or the
division in which membership is
desired. Address all letters to EAA
or the particular division at the fol-
lowing address:
EAA AVIATION CENTER
P_O_ BOX 3086
OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086
PHONE (414) 426-4800
FAX (414) 426-4828
OFFICE HOURS:
8:15-5:00 MON_-FRI_
SATURDAY, JULY14,1990
Startingat9:00a.m. P.D.T.
HAWKAIRCRAFT
1715N. Marshall
GillespieAirport
EI Cajon, California
IRSPublicAuction
Underthe authorityoftheapplicableInternal Revenue
Code Sections, the following seized property will be
sold at public auction for nonpaymentoftaxes.
FLYING AIRCRAFT
Stearman AN-1 - N58969 - SIN 757871, P&W R-985 En-
gine, 450 hp.
Consolidated Vultee BT-15 - N67114, SI N 2678,Curtis-
Wright R-975 AN-11 engine.
Experimental 2/3 scale P-51D Mustang - N81905, SI N
001, RangerL-440-C5200hpEngine.Edo-AireRT-553Nav.
Com.
Experimental213 ScaleHawkerHurricane- N33000,SI N
HH-1, Lycoming 0-320Engine. King KX-145B Nav.Com.
Note: At thetime ofthis publication, the logswere not
availabletogetthetimes. Bysaledatewewill compile
as muchpaperworkas ispossible. All aircraftwill have
clearbill ofsalesand lien releases.
REBUILD PROJECTS
RyanSCW- Complete.Wingsandallcontrolsurfaceshave
been recovered. Fuselage repaired, interior all redone in
leather. Has Warner Super Scarab engine.0 - SMOH. Will
have paper work. This project is approximately 85 percent
finished.Mostlyjust needs final assembly.
VulteeBT-13AProject- Fuselage,centersection,tailsec-
tion, wings, control surfaces, etc. Project will have approxi-
mately85 percent of all parts needed to build.
"47" Bellanca Model14-13(Tail Wheel)- SI N 1478. 100
percent complete. Needsto be reworked.
Ryan STA Parts- R/Hwing, steel center section, control
surfaces, wing hardware, flying wires, wood spars, etc.
Navy N3N Inventory - Fuselage, complete upper wing,
lowerwings,control surfaces, struts, etc.
ENGINES
P&WR-985- Severaldifferentdash numbers,Cont. R-975-
C1, Lycoming R-680-17 several, (2) Jacobs R-755-9, (2)
Kiekhaefer 4-cylinder drone engines #V-105-2, approxi-
mately 25 engines.
PROPELLERS
McCauley ground adjustables, 30 and 40 Spline, Hamilton
Standard Ground Adjustable, (3) 2-0-30 Hamilton Standard
ConstantSpeed,450Stearmanhubs,BeechRobyProphub,
several McCauleyand HamiltonStandard blades,McCauley
20 Spline Ground Adjustable hubs.
STEARMAN INVENTORY
Several control surfaces, several fuselages - all on gear,
windshields, N-struts, wing hardware and ribs, center sec-
tions, side panels, firewalls, fairings, push-pull tubes, control
sticks, flying wires, seats, etc. VERY LARGE SELECTION
OF PARTS.
BTINVENTORY
Control surfaces, centersections, tail section, control sticks
and columns, sidepanels, canopies, landinggearand parts,
cowling, wheels and brakes.GOOD SELECTION.
WINGS
Stearman wings - uppers and lowers. R/H, UH, Standards,
extendedsquaretips,etc.BTwings.Thereareapproximately
20 wings. Some are rebuild, mostare in good condition.
WHEELS AND BRAKES
SeveralStearmanand BTwheels. SeveralStearmanandBT
brakes assemblies.Tail wheels and tail wheel assembly of
all types.Mastercylinders. GOOD SELECTION.
Engine inventory, hardware inventory, shopequipment
andhandtools.
THIS WILLBE A LARGE AUCTION.
CALLFOR COMPLETE BROCHURE
BROS.l;J.=
AUCTIONS INC.
1260ROYdl Dove.P.pilllon,NE68128
(402) 592\933
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 35
MANUFACTURER DIRECT
HANGARS
BUILDING MATERIAL
LessThan 1/2 Price Sale
Example:42' widex36'long- Frames,Sheeting,
and Hardware, Inc.40'x12' Bi-fold Door, with
Electric door lift.
$15,266 Value, NOW Your Price
ONLY$7,593
SOMEOTHER SIZESAVAILABLE

WILLSHIPNATIONWIDE
Call Toll Free - 1-800-843-8275
612-593-1DOD
FAX: 612-544-1835
Flyhighwitha
qualityClassicinterior
Completeinteriorassembliesfordo-it-yourselfinstallation.
Customqualityateconomicalprices.
Cushionupholsterysets
Wallpanelsets
Headliners
Carpetsets
Baggagecompartmentsets
Firewallcovers
Seatslings
Recoverenvelopesanddopes
Freecatalogofcompleteproductline.
Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and
stylesofmaterials:$3.00.
Qir,ext;RODUCTS,INC.
259LowerMorrisvilleRd., Dept.VA
Fallsington,PA19054 (215)295-4115
36 JULY 1990
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THE SPOI?T AVIATION ASSOCIATION
This month's Mystery Plane has a
modernistic look considering the year
it was built. It was a product of a well-
known designer-builder who is still ac-
tive in the EAA. The photo is from the
EAA Archives. Answers will be pub-
lished in the October, 1990 issue of
VINTAGE AIRPLANE. Deadline for
that tissue is August 10.
Sam Burgess of San Antonio, Texas
submitted a detailed answer to the
April Mystery Plane. He writes: "Your
Mystery Plane in the April VINTAGE
AIRPLANE is a Verville and it did have
a mysterious fate .
"I flew out of Wayne County Airport
in 1938 in a Travel Air Sport with a
Wright Gypsy engine and the Verville
was parked right next to it. The pilot
was Dave Smith who was very secre-
tive about his plans. Twenty-five Ver-
vi lies were built just south of Wayne
County and retrofitted by Smith and
Joe Hance. You can see the cabin tanks
through the round windows. Smith
flew it to L. A. and then nonstop to
N . Y ., then back to Detroit. It looks
like a Stinson Reliant and had a brand
new Wright J-5 engine with a Smith
controllable prop with two positions
like a BT-13 or Stinson. Smith was an
air-conditioner engineer with Chrysler
Motors and kept pretty much to him-
self. The Verville had NO brakes with
a tail skid. It was assumed that he tried
to fly nonstop from Wayne County to
Germany as the swastika emblem was
found on some of his tools in the tool-
box in the picture. When you consider
that it is not that far from Detroit to
NY over the great circle route, he had
continuing on to Rome .
"The catwalks in the overhead led
from the FAA offices to the restaurant.
The biplane in back of the Verville is
an original Meyers OTW as Al Meyers
was in the process of having it certified
with the FAA and was approved with
a 125 Warner in the nose just in time
for the CPT programs that I instructed
in at Ann Arbor. The tail of the aircraft
under the Meyers nose is a Ryan ST
that belonged to Bobby Lupton, the
current National Women's Aerobatic
Champ."
Jack McRae of Huntington Station ,
New York who sent in the photo , adds
this: "The airplane is a Verville Air
Coach , c/n 2, Identification No . 506
(Unlicensed), built in 1929, engine
Wright J-5, 220 hp. Owner: Davis Em-
mons Smith, 1282 W. Grand Blvd.,
Detroit, Michigan. It appeared to have
been modified with landing gear and
lift struts possibly from a Stinson Re-
liant. It was stored at the Wayne
County Airport, Romulus, Michigan
during 1936-38.
"For several years the owner had
been rebuilding it and installing extra
fuel tanks that completely filled the
cabin so that the only access was
through a trap door in the floor, shown
hanging open in the photo.
"From New York Times, July 26,
1928, p. 3: 'Davis Emmons Smith re-
ported missing since takeoff from
Wayne County Airport on June 29th
- police department last night re-
ceived radio message from Detroit
Police. Davis Emmons Smith, 46, dis-
appeared or left Wayne County Airport
in his own airplane '506' at 4 pm on
June 29 and we have not heard from
him since. He may be heading east.' "
"Bill Larkins added the registration
data and NY Times reference. I seem
to remember that talk around the air-
port was that Smith had attempted a
trans-Atlantic flight as this was at
about the same time as Corrigan's
flight. A real mystery."
One other answer was received from
Charley Hayes of Park Forest, Illinois.
ample fuel as Lindberg had thought of Custom Vervilles
38 JULY 1990
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