VOl. 30, No. 5 MAY 2002

STRAIGHT & LEVELlButchJoyce 2 VM NEWS/H.G. Frautschy 4 AEROMAIL 5 MYSTERY PLANE/H.G. Frautschy 6 HOWARD STARK THE PIONEER AVIATOR OF INSTRUMENT FLYING / John M. Miller 10 THE SOUL OF AN AIRPLANE A STEARMAN'S PAST IS A NATION'S HISTORY/ Philip Handleman 12 SOUL OF THE SPIRIT THE SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIs's SIRE IS QUITE AN AIRPLANE IN ITS OWN RIGHT/ H.G. Frautschy 18 MEMBERS' PROJECTS/H.G. Frautschy 20 THE ROCKET AIR SHIP ODDBALL PROJECTS WERE NOT JUST LIMITED TO THE PIONEER ERA!/ Ferrell E Powell 22 PASS IT TO BUCK/Buck Hilbert 23 NEW MEMBERS 24 CALENDAR 28 CLASSIFIED ADS WWW.VINTAGEAIRCRAFT.ORG 30 VAA MERCHANDISE

Publisher TOM POBEREZNY Editor-In-Chief scon SPANGLER Executive Director, Editor HENRY G. FRAUTSCHY

VAA Administrative Assistant THERESA BOOKS

Executive Editor MIKE DIFRISCO

Contrlbutirlg Editors JOHN UNDERWOOD BUDD DAVISSON

Graphic Designer OLIVIA l. PHILLIP

Photography Staff JIM KOEPNICK LEEANN ABRAMS

Advertlsirlg/Edltorial Asslstarlt ISABELLE WISKE ST

BY ESPIE "BUTCH" JOYCE PRESIDENT, VINTAGE ASSOCIATION Friends, Sun 'n Fun, and the Red Barn

was at the 2002 Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly­ well. It made me proud to be a part In for the week, and I must say that of this event, and you know I will be I the weather was great this year. The back next year, as long as the creek Vintage area parking crews had their doesn't rise. hands full because this year a record­ As we now look forward to EAA breaking number of vintage aircraft AirVenture 2002, there are quite a few attended according to the physical events that will take place in the count done on the field each day. months of May, June, and July. Some volunteers with pizza and bever­ The most outstanding aircraft in of our favorites include the National ages-have you ever bought a couple the Vintage area was the Aeronca Biplane Association's convention at hundred large pizzas? Chief owned by Paul Gould of Sar­ Bartlesville, Oklahoma, , The Ameri­ We have a volunteer center, which dinia, Ohio. This restoration is most can Waco Fly-In at Creve Coeur, is open daily during convention for outstanding, and with any luck you Missouri, and the SAA fly-in at Cham­ an air-conditioned break and a snack. will be able to see this aircraft at EAA paign, Illinois. There are plenty local We operate a Type Club tent so that AirVenture Oshkosh this year. Paul events around the country as well. the membership can visit with the had the airplane at last year's EAA Air­ Looking at this list, it does not take type clubs to which they belong. We Venture, where it won the Reserve long to realize that aviation is alive have a special metalworking area Grand Champion Classic Silver Lindy. and well! that allows members to try hands-on A number of other aircraft that would Many of you will by now have re­ techniques with experienced crafts­ cause you to pause and look them ceived my letter outlining our new men. Members will now receive a over were there as well. program, the "Friends of the Red special 10 percent discount on mer­ The VAA has just this year created a Barn." Many of you have visited chandise that is available at the VAA judging category that recogn izes Oshkosh and have been in and store during convention. We host the champion custom aircraft, and there is around the VAA headquarters build­ OX-5 area next to the Red Barn. a need for this award. Just as people ing we refer to as the Red Barn. Even We have a special quiet area for have taken older cars and converted with this year's rather short time those who might need a break or to them into street rods, we saw this frame, a good number of you have rest during the day. We have our own trend at Lakeland this year. There were already responded, and I really ap­ AeroGram newsletter that is posted several aircraft that would fit into the preciate it! These funds will be used each day so that members can be custom award category, and the work­ to operate VAA programs in the VAA aware of what activities are occurring manship was just outstanding. These area during EAA AirVenture and to in the area. We have a free tram that aircraft and owners told me they improve the VAA area of the conven­ tours the Vintage area each day. We would be at Oshkosh this year as well. tion grounds. Both uses will benefit pay for the Vintage Awards (those be­ VAA Chapter 1 was having a great VAA members who attend this great low the Lindy awards-EAA covers time hosting the Vintage headquar­ event and enjoy our area. the cost of the Lindys), which are ters building. It was a great place to We have a number of programs at given to the award winners that own catch up with friends during the day, EAA AirVenture that are not found in those great airplanes. We own a num­ sit back on the front porch, drink other areas of the grounds. For exam­ ber of the scooters that you see used some lemonade, and eat popcorn. Be­ ple, we give each member who brings by our volunteers while parking air­ cause of the times, security was an aircraft to the fly-in a participant craft each day. Each year over a notched up somewhat, but it seemed plaque to take home. During the number of weekends, a group of hard­ to me that everyone was taking the week we operate a special unit, core volunteers does a good deal of small delays in stride. The attitude of "Toni's Red Carpet Express," to help maintenance to VAA buildings, trail­ the attendees was positive. It seemed members move their baggage to and ers, pOint buildings, and judges' everyone was determined to show the from their aircraft. headquarters. We also have ongOing world that aviation was here to stay. The VAA also gives each volunteer new projects to help improve the John Burton and the Sun 'n Fun a special name badge and a VAA vol­ VAA area of convention grounds for folks made the stay a pleasant one unteer cap. You might be surprised the membership and visitors. for Norma and me. Also, a special how many folks it takes to put on a So you can see this requires a few thanks to Jo and Duffy Thomas for fly-in of this size. We have some 60 bucks. Again, thank you for your their extra effort to make Norma and chairman and 350 to 400 individual help! Let's all pull in the same direc­ me feel at home. It was great to see volunteers who help out during the tion for the good of aviation. our friends Billy and Adair Hender­ two weeks surrounding the conven­ Remember, we are better together. son and be able to visit with them as tion. We also host a special party for Join us and have it all! ...... VINTAGE AIRPLANE ~ EWS

COMPILED BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

VAA PICNIC 75TH ANNIVERSARY This year's VAA Picnic will be OF LINDBERGH'S SOLO CROSSING held at the EAA Nature Center Pavilion the evening of Wednes­ MAY 20-21 1927. THE 33-1/2 HOURS Earth Inductor Compass), Lind­ day, July 24, 2002. That's a bit used by Charles Lindbergh to bergh carefully and methodically earlier than in past years, so you'll cross the Atlantic from New York stacked the cards in his favor, so need to plan on picking up your to Paris over those two days to him and many in aviation, it tickets right after you arrive at EAA changed how people viewed the wasn't a surprise that he suc­ AirVenture Oshkosh. Tickets can world, and in the coming years, ceeded. He planned it that way. be purchased at the VAA Red Barn transoceanic flight became a real­ Today, with the hindsight and ex­ Information Center. ity that today is simply an traordinary gains in technology, accepted part of daily life. Take a most of us would never attempt RED BARN STORE few moments on these days to re­ such a flight in the Spirit ofSt. Louis, The VAA Red Barn store, chock member what the state of aviation but at that time, the purpose-built, full of great VAA logo merchandise was on those amazing days, and sleek monoplane was exactly what and other great gear, will be open lift a glass in toast to the 75th an­ was needed to fly the Atlantic. And all week long. On the evening of niversary of what was the dawn he did it first. Moreover, he in­ Thursday, July 25, 2002, there will of acceptance for the general pub­ spired countless generations to get be a special VAA Members Only lic and aviation. Using the best into the air and do something. Avi­ sale. Bring your VAA card (or your available technology of the day, ation advanced and America receipt showing you joined VAA at including a state of the art engine progressed on the wave of enthusi­ the Convention) and you'll re­ (the Wright J-4 Whirlwind) and asm that engulfed the nation and ceive an additional discount on instruments (including the new the world. It was quite a time. speciall y priced merchandise. The Sperry Turn Indicator and the Here's to you, Charles Lindbergh! VAA Members Only sale will be from 7-9 pm. See you there!

FRONT COVER: Andrew King's amazing time machine, his 1929 Ryan M-l. Andrew's AirVenture NOTAM Now Available Ryan was awarded the Champion Golden Age (1918-1927) Bronze Lindy at EM The FAA-approved, EAA-designed AirVenture Oshkosh 2001. EM photo by ~,\.. I '~'~ I••+ ~ -~~ ~ AirVenture Oshkosh 2002 Notice to LeeAnn Abrams, shot with a Canon EOSln ~ . .;,, ((9 /lIRVENTVRE ~ . equipped with an 80-200 mm lens on 100 OSHKOSH ' Z ODZ Airmen (NOTAM) is now available in ,.. ,'1 --",-1:'­ web-viewable format, as well as in a ASA Fuji slide film. EM Cessna 210 photo ~" ..Y plane flown by Bruce Moore . .... ~~\ ,.. downloadable and printable Adobe , ~",':<.~, '~~~ NOTAM pdf file. A 30-page printed version is BACK COVER: EM has built two replicas "'0\l..~' expected to become available some­ of Charles Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis. I"S.\~~ The first has been on display in the EM Air­ ,;:s;.~ time in mid-May, according to the FAA. You can order your copy today Venture Museum for over a decade, and the through EAA Membership Services at second now graces the skies over Pioneer Airport and occasionally the Midwest at 1-800-JOIN-EAA (1-800-564-6322) or special events. This shot by EM chief pho­ ,... through anyone of 15 selected Auto­ ,.­,,:\ tographer Jim Koepnick is of the second mated Flight Service Stations (AFSS) Ryan NYP constructed by EM. The airplane throughout the country. Canadian pi­ also was one of three used to recreate the SpecIal flight PrOl;cdures cffcc!lve July 20 · July 29, 2002 '" transcontinental flight of Lindbergh from San ~,\\Y lots looking for a printed copy should f .. l ...... c;QIl'tol .... NOINIj~<...I[M"'1,9QO-S64lm Diego to New York. On May 13, George ~ ~_I-:,;":!::.=:.=!:!:....-.eu-",; contact Transport Canada, General Daubner will fly the EM Spirit from St. Louis ." '" ~~ ~. '\ ~ 1''o.:-'i' t · ...~':.."J.\'.t~ $'t;..,¥ '-;,,'o/>.\-o. . \'y..¥\ ',:-,,:J { .I,: Aviation, at 613-990-1022. to New York as part of the 75th anniversary All pilots of vintage aircraft not celebration of this epic flight. Kerm it Weeks equipped with an electrical system and two-way radio are encouraged to will fly commercially to Paris where he will fly use a handheld radio and a headset for their VFR arrival. If that is not the Spirit replica owned by Fantasy of Flight possible, a special No-Radio (NORDO) clearance has been developed. in a recreation of Lindbergh's arriva l at LeBourget field, just outside Paris. Please be sure to obtain a copy of the NOTAM and review it carefully.

2 MAY 2002 PANCAKE BREAKFAST EAA AirVenture starts. CD Writer We've been working on solving One of the most enjoyable times As more of us use digital photog­ the problem of food service on the many of us can recall has been raphy to capture our memories of south end of Wittman field for a centered around local fly-ins com­ special events, we're caught by one couple of years, and we're pleased bined with a great pancake fact of life-those little Compact to announce the first breakfast, and that's just Flash or Smart Media cards don't al­ step-breakfast! what we'll have on hand, ways hold all the pictures we'd like Starting with this for a price we hope you'll to take. We're going to help you year's convention, the find very palatable! with this dilemma by offering to VAA will be opening the If the VAA Ta ll Pines download your images and burn Vintage Tall Pines Cafe, Cafe proves to be a success, we'll them to a compact disc (CD), all for located just to the south of the ul­ look forward to expanding the a nominal fee. Bring your digital tralight runway, just north of the offerings and schedu le in the camera to the VAA Red Barn, and bus stop and shower facilities. coming years. Come join us for a see how easy it is to savor your stay We'll offer a limited breakfast c u p of coffee a nd hearty pan­ in Oshkosh. menu starting the weekend before cakes!

VAA's "Friends of The Red Barn" VAA 2002 Convention Fund Raising Program Th e Vintage Aircraft Associatio n is a major participant in the a contributor in Vintage Airplane magazine, and you will be presented World's Largest Annual Sport Aviation Event - EAA AirVenture with a special name badge recognizing your level of participation. Oshkosh! The Vintage Division hosts and parks over 2,000 vintage During AirVenture, you'll have access to the Red Barn Volunteer airplanes each year from the Red Barn area of Wittman Field south to Center, and we'll host you on a special tram tour of the VAA con- the perimeter of the airport. vention grounds. The financial support for the various activities in connection with Gold Level contributors will also receive a pair of certificates the week-long event in the Red Barn area has been principally de- each good fo r a flight on EAA's Ford Trimotor, redee mable rived from the Vintage Aircraft Association's general income fund. during AirVenture or during the summer flying seaso n with your The Vintage Board has elected to more properly underwrite the an- paid admission to the EAA AirVenture Museum and its Pioneer Air­ nual Vintage Red Barn area Convention activities fr o m a yearly po rt. Silver Level contributors will receive one ce rtificate fo r a special convention support fund. flight on the Ford Trimotor. Fo r the July 2002 Convention, the Vintage Aircraft Associa- This is a "fir st ever" opportunity for all Vintage members to join tio n is establishing the "Frie nds of the Red Barn " program to together as a special circle of key financial supporters of the Vintage financially support the Vintage Aircraft Division's activities dur- Division. It will be a truly rewarding experience for each of us as in­ ing AirVenture Oshkosh. dividuals to be part of supporting the finest gathering of Antique, This fundraising program will be an annual affair, beginning each Classic and Contemporary airplanes in the world. yea r on July 1 and ending June 30 of the following year. However, for Won't you please join those of us who recognize the tremendously the July 2002 Convention, the initial fund raising program will run valuable key role the Vintage Aircraft Association has played in pre- from April 15,2002, and extend through June 30. 2002. There will be serving the grea t grass roots and general aviation airplanes of the last three levels of gifts and gift recognition: 99 years? Your participation in this special circle of EAA's Vintage Air- Vintage Gold Level- $600.00 and above per year gift craft Association Fri ends of the Red Barn group will help insure the Vintage Silver Level - $300.00 per year gift very finest in AirVenture Oshkosh Vintage Red Barn Programs. Vintage Bronze Level - $100.00 per year gift For those of you who wish to contribute, we've included a copy of Each contribution at one of these levels entitles you to a Certifi- the contribution form. Feel free to copy it and mail it to VA A head­ cate of Appreciation from the Division. Your name will be listed as quarters with your donation. ~------efT 2002 VAA Friends of the Red Barn Nam e EAA # VAA # ______Address.______City/State/Zip.______Phone E-Mail______Please choose your level of participation: __ Vintage Gold Level Friend - $600.00 Mail your contribution to: ___ Vintage Silver Level Friend - $300.00 EAA ___ Vintage Bronze Level Friend - $100.00 VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOC . o Paym ent Enclosed o Please Charge my credit card (below) PO Box 3086 . Credit Card Number Expiration Date ______OSHKOSH, WI 54901-3086 Signature.______*Do you or your spouse work for a matching gift company7 If so, this gift may qualify for a matching donation. Please ask your Human Re­ sources department for the appropriate form. Nam eof Company ______

Th e Vi ntage Aircraft Association is a non-profit educational organization under IRS SOIc3 rul es . Under Federal Law, the deduction from Federal In­ come tax for charitable contributions is limited to the amount by which any money (and the value of any property other than money) contributed exceeds the value of the goods or services provided in exchange for the contribution. An appropriate receipt acknowledging your gift will be sent to you for IRS gift reporting reasons.

VINTAG E AIRPLANE 3 with kids in/ on Cliff's car, the rumble seat, on the fenders, and on the running boards. Jack Jaehnnecke's aircraft collection would be a museum tOday-two autogyros, several pri­ mary gliders (one with a fuselage ' pod'), a Stinson Jr., some Waco and Travel Air biplanes (one elephant-eared Wichita Fokker' Travel Air E 2000), and a couple of Heath Parasols. (Jack walked with a limp because of an injury while Dear Bob, Of course, my first flight was a number of testing one such homebuilt. When he crashed, Do you remember August 28, 19947 years ago. Since then I have flown many differ­ his high-top-booted foot was caught in the I remember the day clearly. The warm sun ent planes, from soloing in a Piper Tri-Pacer in framework. It was said they pulled him out of was high overhead . A brisk wind blew up dirt 1996 to taking my commercial checkride in a the boot to get him out before it burned. That and clippings from the newly mown field, form­ Cessna 182RG. But on that magical day in was the story at least. ) The most modern ing tiny tornadoes as they traveled down the 1994, my fate was sealed! plane there was the brand new Cessna Air­ tarmac. Sitting quietly in the grass was a tiny There is one person to whom I am most master owned by the president of the Wander blue and yellow taildragger. "That's a Pober Ju­ grateful: Bob Lumley. Bob, you took me on my Co. and named Little Orphan Annie, complete nior Ace, " a jolly, tall man told me , eyeglasses first airplane ride , and sent me a subscription with a decal of Annie on the cowl. It was perched precariously on his nose. "It was bui lt to Vintage Airplane when I received my private painted Ovaltine brown with Ovaltine orange by hand," he continued, but I was only pa r­ certificate. I shall never forget these acts of trim. There was an old Liberty engine on a tially listening. My eyes caressed the creation kindness. They have set in motion a chain of stand in the back 'classroom' corner of the from the shiny wood prop to the oi l-streaked events that have directed and positively im­ hangar. Our dream was to fly with Jack to the belly. This plane was a thing of beauty. I ran pacted my life. I continue to look up to a man I Cleveland National Air Races in the Stinson my hand along the wing, my fingers gingerly respect and admire. My hope is to contribute Jr.-which he did every year with friends . I touching the fabric and delicate stitching. The as much to some other aspiring pilot'S dream doubt if he 'd have wanted a bunch of kids! plane looked perfect, its tiny wheels chocked as you have to mine. I am writing this letter, "Yeah, we loved those trips to the airport. by old faded triangles of wood connected by a Bob , to let you know what I have been up to, We went out there once to fly our planes. Jack frayed , barely yellow rope. The smell of burned to thank you for your support, and to let you told us to stay off the active runway. However, avgas and exhaust filled my lungs. The pilot know I hope to follow in your footsteps and we gradually drifted over that way as we walked around the airplane. Like a lost puppy, have a positive impact on other young avia­ chased planes, so he came at us with the I followed him , absorbing everything and noth­ tors' lives as you have had on mine. Stinson Jr., holding it down until he was al­ ing at all. He explained of ailerons, and I am now 21 years old and a newly minted most to us before taking off. We didn 't get the engines, rudders, and elevators, even bolt s CFI. I am attending school at St. Cloud State hint, so he landed and taxied up and 'told' us and wires that kept the airplane together. University in St. Cloud, Minnesota, where I am to get off to the side. I think that was a Prop Emotions of flight filled my mind . I twirled majoring in aviation science with an emphasis Buster club trip that time." around shaking with anticipation. in professional flight. While the events of Sep­ The date of the above events was probably There was a long expanse of grass, old tember 11 have left the aviation industry in a around 1938 to 1940 when I was 12 to 14 hangars and trucks , and this little plane. Blue, slight slump, I still look to the future with great years old. I lived in Geneva, Illinois, and was a yellow, and proud, it stood gracefully on the anticipation. I have enjoyed the little instruc­ member of the St. Charles Prop Busters ramp. I knew it didn't belong here. Up in the tion I have given, and I found it to be not only model club. As you can see, Bruce and I have air, riding the light zephyrs, playing hide and rewarding but also extremely enjoyable. Just a different memories of Little Orphan Annie. seek with the eagles, dodging the clouds, that few months ago I did a presentation for a (Monocoupe/Cessna Airmaster-maybe one was where this thing of beauty belonged. And troop of Boy Scouts, and took a number of replaced the other). I never really knew Jack, for the first time, I was going to experience the them up on their first Young Eagles rides. The but I sure admired him. I too remember that thrill of its open cockpit. joy in their faces was unmatchable, and I truly old Aeronca C-3-or was it a C-2 . I remember The rest of the story becomes a blur. I can believe I had more fun flying with them than it dragged on the grass when it taxied! hardly remember the takeoff and landing, but they did. Also in the list of "ghosts," Cap. Kohlert is the wind in my face, the incredible view, the Sean Gonia mentioned. Kohlert' s garage was the only freedom of flight all made a lasting impres­ St. Cloud , Minnesota place we could buy the 70 weight motor oil sion, a wonderful adventure etched in my that we mixed with gasoline for our old Brown mind for all time. I often return to that small We 've passed the 770,000 Young Eagles D's and Ohlsson 23s of those days! grass strip in Oshkosh and relive the wonder­ mark, and many of them were flown in antique, Flying has been part of my life, mostly as a ful feeling I felt for the first time. Occasionally, classic, and contemporary airplanes. We 're all passenger, but I did work with JAARS in Peru I see a young child following in my footsteps, looking forward to a great season flying enthu­ (the air arm of Wycliffe Bible Translators) back and I can't help but revel in the joy I know he siastic young people like Sean. Let's all get out in the early '50s. I worked in flight and mainte­ or she must be feeling. I haven't seen that there and fly our 10 for 2002!-HGF nance . Then I married and moved into bible Pober Junior Ace in a number of years, but I translation work in Ecuador where my wife and can still feel it in my blood. Every time I take Remembering Long Ago I worked with the Cofan people . One of our pi­ the controls of an aircraft, be it a Cessna, Boy, did Bruce Miller's article on "Jack and lots there was my good friend, Bob Griffin, well Beech, or Piper Cub, I feel the same excite­ the Airport Kid" bring back memories. I just known at Oshkosh , representing JAARS. ment, anticipation, and joy as those three went back to an old fi le on our model airplane Thanks to Bruce Miller for his memories to wheels depart the ground. If only for a mo­ club and found the following, which I wrote up add to mine! ment, I become part of the aircraft, free and about 15 years ago: Cordially, weightless . I've come to realize that the sky is " Then there were the trips to the St. M. Bub Borman not my limit. It is my playground! Charles Air Activities Airport in the coupe- Dallas, Texas 4 MAY 2002 MYSTERY P LANE

BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY THE WEDELL-WILLIAMS WE WILL J R .

et's get started right away We also heard from across the Pacific: Just a side note. What a brilliant with a letter from a regu­ Now, the February Mystery Plane engine the Hisso was . It featured L lar participant in our is without a doubt the very early very clever engineering and was way monthly quiz: version of the Wedell-Williams "We ahead of its time. In Australia, the Your February issue Mystery Will" which later became the fa­ very first engine to be approved for Plane is the Wedell-Williams We mous No. 44. The photo appears to "manufacture" was the Harkness Will, NR-9471, SIN 101. Their have been taken in late 1929, and if Hornet, which was basically half a first racer was built in 1929 with you examine the photo, you can see Hisso. I had an original unstamped a 180-hp Hisso engine. However, that the outer wing panels are cov­ data plate years ago but can't find it. Wedell-Williams modified the SIN ered, but the belly from the wing Regards and keep up the good 101, NR NO-9471 racer with a attachment pOint to wing attach­ work. Hisso engine, becoming NR-278V, ment point is still uncovered, and David Dent SIN 103. So the unfinished state of the radiator is not yet fitted. The Camden, New South Wales, the mystery plane photo could be 180-hp Hisso is very clear, as is the Australia. either one. This racer was also re­ support ring for the forward cowl­ built in 1931 and became the first ing. A slightly later picture appears Other correct answers were re­ model 44. on page 275 of the EAA publication, ceived from: George Jevnager, Robert Taylor The Golden Age ofAir Racing. It must Hopkins, Minnesota; Jake DeWan, President, have been fun to land with those Towanda, Pennsylvania; Dale Crane, Antique Airplane Association great big wheels, thin tyres and what Basin, Wyoming; Walter Albert, looks to be no suspension. Ocala, Florida......

THIS MONTH' S MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US SEND YOUR ANSWER TO: EM, VINTAGE VIA THE COLLECTION OF CHARLES TRASK, YORK AIRPLANE, P.O. Box 3086 , OSHKOSH, WI HAVEN, PENNSYLVANIA. 54903-3086. YOUR ANSWER NEEDS TO

BE IN NO lATER THAN JUNE 10 FOR IN­

CLUSION IN THE AUGUST 2002 ISSUE OF

VINTAGE AIRPLANE .

YOU CAN ALSO SEND YOUR RESPONSE

VIA E-MAIL. SEND YOUR ANSWER TO vintage@eaa. org.

BE SURE TO INCLUDE BOTH YOUR

NAME AND ADDRESS (ESPECIAllY YOUR

CITY AND STATE!) IN THE BODY OF YOUR

NOTE AND PUT "(MONTH) MYSTERY

PLANE" IN THE SUBJECT LINE.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5 Howard Stark The pioneer aviator of instrument flying By JOHN M. MILLER

First printed in the magazine of the American Bonanza Society, January 2000

In about 1923 I became acquainted Howard saved for the $500 pur­ New Jersey) and Boston. with Howard Stark when we both hap­ chase price while working on his At the time, there was no known pened to be riding our motorcycles to father's farm and driving a car for a way to fly through the fog, so all fly­ Connecticut to an air show at Bethany nearby family. He bought one of those ing in bad weather was made down Flying Field in Naugatuck. Howard's fly­ surplus Jennys, was assisted in assem­ low, under the clouds. Attempts to fly ing career and mine started about the bling it at Curtiss Field at the factory, higher into the clouds were consid­ same time. I would like you to know more and then was given a mere two hours ered very dangerous. Flying under the about the accomplishments of this very of flying instruction. That's about overcast also caused a lot of collisions shy and extremely modest person. This is eight hours less than is usually re­ with terrain or other obstructions; a greatly condensed version ofhis career. quired for learning to fly well enough therefore, flying the mail was a risky to safely solo. occupation. There were many fatali­ Howard Stark was born before the There were no aviation regulations ties, which gave aviation a bad turn of the 20th century on a farm at in those days, and Howard flew the reputation, actually much worse than Pawling, New York. This typical farm airplane to his father's farm, crossing it deserved. boy was drafted into the U.S. Army in Long Island Sound on the way-a re­ The Sperry Gyroscope Company World War I, and since he knew how ally surpnstng navigational attempted to solve the problem of fly­ to drive an automobile, not a com­ accomplishment for such a neophyte ing in the fog. They invented a small mon skill at that time, he was assigned pilot. Unfortunately, his inexperience gyroscopic instrument called a "turn as the driver for a general. showed when he crashed while at­ indicator" and delivered samples to While in France, he observed the tempting to land in a very short field . the Army Air Service. Two experi­ military airplanes and decided he enced Army pilots, Capt. Ocker and would like to fly. But without the re­ Flying for Pay Lt. Crane, were assigned the task of quired education, he was not accepted The way to make a living with your evaluating the instrument. They for transfer to flight training. Eddie airplane in those early days was to worked on the problem for about a Rickenbacker, a driver for General Per­ barnstorm from place to place, taking year at San Antonio, Texas. shing, had been accepted without the passengers up on their first air flights. Then they wrote a report, which required education because of his There were no airlines, only the U.S. was published as a book. It was their fame as an automobile race driver. Post Office Airmail Service to Califor­ conclusion that it was not possible to Rickenbacker became the ranking ace nia . In 1926, the U.S . Post Office fly continuously in the fog by refer­ of American pilots in France. (Inci­ contracted with private corporations ring to that instrument without losing dentally, I had the honor of knowing to take over the airmail flights. By control of the airplane. In fact, the re­ Captain Eddie well and worked for that time, Howard owned a very mod­ port said that one could not fly for him as a captain on Eastern Air Lines.) ern airplane for its day, a Stinson more than about three minutes before After World War I was over, many cabin biplane-one of the first en­ losing control. surplus Jenny training planes were closed cabin airplanes manufactured In the meantime, most of the air­ sold to Curtiss, their original manu­ in the United States. mail planes had been equipped with facturer, in Mineola, New York. Curtiss Colonial Airways, the New York to turn indicators, but the pilots soon advertised them for sale for only $500, Boston airmail contractor, had a short­ discovered the same problem as Ocker about one-twentieth of their original age of modern airplanes and tried to and Crane. They could use it occa­ price, together with some instruction buy the Stinson cabin biplane from sionally to zoom up to clear air; they for flying them. In the early 1920s, Howard. Because he wouldn't sell it, could pass over the mountains by $500 was the equivalent of perhaps they finally rented it and hired him to keeping the airplane going straight. $10,000 today. Saving that much was fly it. That's how Howard started to But their attempts to fly for more quite an accomplishment for a coun­ fly the mail between New York (actu­ than three minutes or so always re­ try farm worker. ally Hadley Field in New Brunswick, sulted in a loss of control. Quite often 6 MAY 2002 How important was the Turn Indicator instrument to Charles Lindbergh? He placed it in the very center of the instru­ ment panel in the Spirit of St. Louis, just above the Rieker Inclinometers. Lindbergh personally thanked Howard Stark for publishing his instructional booklet, which taught him the Stark 1-2-3 System of flying in poor visibility, using the Turn Indicator for reference. those flights ended in failure when self very well. The Stinson cabin bi­ have to land and wait for the condi­ the pilots suffered severe vertigo and plane had a reputation as a very stable tions to improve or else return to their disorientation, resulting in a false airplane. He found that he could fl y starting point. This problem caused sense of turning and diving. the entire distance between New York some fatal accidents when the pilots Stinson's cabin biplane was and Boston that way. He simply ad­ tried to get over the ridge in the fog. equipped with a turn indicator, but justed the stabilizer trim to maintain In this modern day of aviation, fortunately for Howard, he had not his desired altitude, all without touch­ people do not realize how many pi­ heard of the Ocker and Crane experi­ ing the control stick. lots lost their lives flying themail.as ments. Therefore, he did not know of Across the route of the New York­ well as others flying in bad weather their conclusion that it was impossi­ Boston ai rmail line there is a low during those pioneer days. As a matter ble to fly with the turn indicator in mountain ridge in the vicinity of the of fact, from 1918 to 1926, during the the fog for longer than a few minutes. Connecticut River. When the cloud Post Office's operation of the Except for the fact that he had been cei ling was lower than that ridge, it Transcontinental Airmai l Service told what it was for, Howard viewed sometimes was not possible for the pi­ alone, there were 42 fa talities. the turn indicator as a m ystery. He lots to get past the ridge, even by an Even in fair weather, much of the noticed, however, that when he kept end run around the south end shore of flying was done at low altitude so the his hands off the controls and simply Long Island Sound where the fog would pilots could become very familiar with kept the airplane heading straight by usuall y be right down to the surface. the terrain and the obstructions along referring to the turn indicator and the When this situation occurred and the their routes. In bad weather some fly­ compass-using his feet on the rudder pilots could not find a sli ght gap to ing was commonly done under ceilings controls to do so-his airplane flew it­ squeeze through, they would either as low as 100 feet or lower. Of course,

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7 there were accidents and that was the since such an instrument existed, ments and making corrections for very reason Colonial Airways had a someone must know, or had known, each reading. In only that way was it shortage of airplanes and the reason how to use it. So he set out to teach possible to regain and maintain con­ they needed Howard's airplane. himself how. The fact was that even trol when one got into one of those Howard discovered that when he the pilots for Sperry Gyroscope Com­ potentially fatal spiral dives. flew at a low altitude with his hands pany, the originator, and Pioneer This was Howard's important discov­ off the control stick, as I described, he Instrument Co., the manufacturer, ery, and it is still known to this day as could adjust the longitudinal trim to were unable to use the turn indicator the Stark 1-2-3 System. All pilots must climb over the ridge. When he was successfully in turning flight. All of learn it when they obtain their instru­ past it, he would readjust the trim to them lost control, so flying by means ment ratings. The important thing that descend to the original low altitude of the turn indicator was considered Howard had learned was that vertigo again on the other side. He recorded to be just an unproven theory. had to be ignored by the pilot's own the time required to safely pass over It was assumed that instrument fly­ sheer willpower and complete depend­ the ridge and concluded after several ing would not be possible until an ence had to be maintained on the such flights that if he could do it in entirely different type of instrument readings of the instruments. fair weather, then he should also be was developed. Later, of course, Sperry able to do it in foggy weather. did develop the gyroscopic artificial Blind or Instrument Flying? horizon and the directional gyro. All With the assistance of his wife, How Howard Got The Mail Through three instruments in various forms are Howard wrote and published a pam­ So he did exactly that when the used to this day and are the backbone phlet called "Blind or Instrument cloud ceiling was very low, arriving at of instrument flying. Flying?" By "blind flying," he meant, Boston with the mail, while the west­ In the absence of the false informa­ "trying to fly in fog without instru­ bound pilot had found it necessary to tion that it was not possible to fly ments," hence the use of the question return to Boston, unable to get over continuously with the turn indicator, mark. He distributed the pamphlet by the ridge. Howard would then take my friend Howard was able to analyze mail. He did not realize that he should that pilot's mail back to New York suc­ the reason for always getting into a have submitted the information to a cessfully, much to the embarrassment spiral dive when he attempted to fly scientific publication. of the other pilots. They were very turns in the bottom of the overcast Numerous pilots bought the pam­ rankled when this country farmer pi­ clouds. The false sensations had to be phlet. He gave me one and I used it lot out-flew them. forCibly ignored by the pilot, then the successfully. In it he explained that When he explained to the other pi­ turn had to be stopped-first with the those teaching themselves to fly in lots-all of them experienced ex-Army rudder, then the wings leveled by the clouds by the turn and bank indi­ pilots from World War I-how he had means of the gravity ball indicator, cator must learn to ignore the many done it, they refused to believe him. and finally, the airspeed adjusted with false sensations that they were always They thought he had used a secret the elevator controls. certain to experience from vertigo. gap that he had discovered in the He accomplished what the scien­ They must force themselves to believe ridge. After one more pilot lost his tists at Sperry and all of the other in the instrument readings only and life, they were finally convinced. pilots had failed to do: He found that to use them in the proper 1-2-3 order. This type of flying was only done first of all, the pilot had to learn to ig­ After instructing the Colonial Air­ practically in a straight line. When­ nore the false sensations caused by ways pilots in the use of his 1-2-3 ever Howard attempted to fly in a vertigo and must believe the instru­ System, word spread about him. higher overcast for practice in making ments only. When the information reached Na­ turns, he would quickly lose control tional Air Transport, the contractor due to severe vertigo and disorienta­ Stark's 1-2-3 System airmail line from New York to tion. Such attempts invariably To recover from a spiral dive, the Chicago, they requested that Howard resulted in a spiral dive out of the base pilot had to stop the turn first by ref­ teach their chief pilots to use the turn of the overcast. That was what had erence to the turn needle and then by indicator properly. Boeing Air Trans­ happened to several other pilots who applying pressure on the rudder ped­ port, the airmail contractor from had experienced fatal accidents; they als. Then the ball had to be entered by Chicago to the West Coast, used dived into the ground or their air­ the ailerons to level the wings. Third, Howard's instruction also. (Those two planes disintegrated in the air due to the dive had to be stopped by means airlines later combined and along the high-speed spiral dives. of the elevators and the airspeed indi­ with Varney Airlines, formed today's As I said, Howard had not read the cator and only in the same order. And United Airlines.) Ocker and Crane report and other lit­ he knew the reasons for it. The word spread quickly and Ameri­ erature about other pilots having this He called it the Stark 1-2-3 System. can Airlines, Transcontinental Air same difficulty. So he assumed that It consisted of scanning the instru­ Transport, and Western Air Express fol­ 8 MAY 2002 lowed. The latter two later combined in a small Army training plane, under ingredient of today's airline, military, to form TWA. The Royal Dutch Airline the hood and with a safety pilot, at and general aviation. (KLM) hired Howard to go to Holland Mitchell Field, Long Island. I am very thankful that I knew to teach their pilots. Pilots of Lufthansa jimmy Doolittle was abl e to make Howard so well. I feel he is an unsung and British Imperial Airways (now complete fli ghts under the hood from and forgotten heroic pioneer of avia­ British Airways) were soon using takeoff to landing and did so before tion. And it is too bad that his own Howard's 1-2-3 System, too. He be­ many witnesses, resulting in a great hometown, Dutchess County, New came a pilot for Eastern Air Transport amount of publicity about his demon­ York, has fail ed to name the Dutchess (later EAL) and taught their pilots. strations. Soon h e was called the County Airport in his memory. He wrote some more updated pam­ "Father of Instrument Flying." Of phlets on the subject of instrument course, his accomplishment was very Clyde Pangborn (another close friend) flying as the artificial horizon and di­ important and outstanding, but was In 1931 Clyde Pangborn was the rectional gyro were developed and the he really the actual "father" of instru­ first pilot to fly nonstop across the Pa­ radio ra nge navigation system was in­ ment flying when Howard Stark was cific Ocean from Japan to the United sta ll ed. Howard became very well the first to fl y in actual fog in 1926? States. After 41 hours in the air, he known in airline aviation. The U.S. landed in his hometown of We­ Departm ent of Commerce, Aeronau­ 1936 -End of Howard's Career natchee, Washington. The town was tics Branch, employed him to teach In January 1936 Howard was flying so proud of him, they named their their inspectors to use the turn indica­ a Stinson Model S, a four-place cabin airport Clyde Pangborn Memorial Air­ tor so they could make regulations for airplane, for the U. S. Department of port. I worked for him o n the old instrument flying (IFR) and finally for Commerce, wi th orders to fly to the Gates Flying Circus. Wenatchee also air traffic control, as we know it today. West Coast to give more instruction has a monument at the entrance to In 1927 I deferred my flying while to D.O.C. Inspecto rs. At Cheyenne, the airport and a plaque in the termi­ studying mechanical engineering at Wyoming, on january 16, after a few nal building dedicated to him. Pratt Institute of Technology. Several days, delay due t o severe winter "Pang," as his friends called him, pilots were preparing to fly across the weather, he got good weather reports used Howard's pamphlet to teach Atlantic to qualify for the Ortieg prize and started to fly across the high route himself to fl y with the turn indicator, of $25,000. I occasionally went out to to Sa lt Lake Ci ty. He had never been m aking possible his long nonstop Curtiss Field to watch the preparations. there before and the plane and equip­ manually flown flight in a small sin­ Some attempts had ended in disaster. ment were barely able to make the gle-en gi n e Bellanca Pacemaker On one of those visits I was stand­ necessary altitude and distance by vi­ airplane powered by a Pratt & Whit­ ing there talking to Howard when one sual flying only. He ra n into a severe ney Wasp engine. of the pilots came over to him and snowstorm that had not been forecast Whenever you fl y to Japan in a jet, paid him a compliment on his instruc­ and made an emergency landing in remember pioneers Howard Stark and tional pamphlet on the use of the turn very deep snow in a remote area of Clyde Pangborn, whose accomplish­ indicator. A day or so later that pilot the Wasatch Mountains. He froze to ments were extrem ely important to successfull y flew his airplane, which death trying to walk out in deep snow aviation in those pioneer days and was equipped with a Sperry Turn Indi­ and minus 20-degree temperature. right to the present. cator and a Sperry Earth Inductor The Stinson had nosed over onto its Here I am in 1999-a veteran pilot Compass, across the Atlantic. His name back in the snow, undamaged. It was with 75 years of flying behind me and was Charles A. Lindbergh. He was the quickly covered by new snow so that it still more ahead of me-but Howard Stark, one contestant pilot who knew how to was not visible to air searchers. A shep­ Charles A. Lindbergh , and Clyde Pang­ fly in the fog with the turn indicator­ herd fo und it the next spring. Howard's born are my civilian pilot heroes. ~ a crucial thing that made his flight body was not fo und until four years successful. I remember watching him later. And so ended the ca reer of a re­ (Editor's Note-Howard Stark 's 1-2­ take off in that murky weather and markable man, sadly, too early. 3 System has served as the basis for thinking to myself that we might never Howard Stark was so shy, self-effac­ what we now know as partial-panel see him again. ing, and modest, that he never retained flying. His method also highlighted By 1929 Sperry had developed the a public relations firm. Of course, the how important it is for your airplane to gyroscopic artificial horizon and the Army Air Service extracted all the pub­ be properly rigged, so it can be flown directional gyro, both standard equip­ licity possible o ut of Doolittle's hands offfor extended periods. Even in ment in one form or anoth er in all accomplishment-and he deserved it. VFR conditions, it can be disconcerting today's well-equipped airplanes. In But in my opinion, Howard Stark is re­ to look up from retrieving a map from that year the well-known james ally the almost forgotten but true the floor and find the horizon tilted at Doolittle practiced using all three in­ father of today's instrument flying. His agoofy anglef-HGF) struments plus a radio direction finder discovery saved many li ves. It is a basic

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9 The Soul of an Airplane A Stearman's past is a nation's history. PHILIP HANDLEMAN

When I crank the engine of my Stearman, a puff of to the Naval Reserve Air Base in Dallas. Her life as a white smoke spits out the exhaust stack. Pounding pis­ trusty workhorse had begun, though the Navy, in its in­ tons find their rhythm in a strangely euphonious finite bureaucratic conjuring, almost immediately throbbing, signs of a periodically dormant artifact reassigned the trainer to Naval Air Station Reno, a train­ reawakening to the splendor of impending flight. This ing facility created in the wake of the Pearl Harbor raid. magnificent old biplane, emblazoned in the colors of Thinking attacks on the mainland were imminent, the her exalted years as a trainer for the U.S. Navy, lifts ever Navy built a cluster of western air bases far enough in­ so gracefully from the grassy field into the alluring sky land to provide a buffer against any invaders. with just the hint of backpressure on the stick to help Of course, the invasions did not materialize, but nev­ her along. She rises methodically, the sun glistening off ertheless the cadets at Reno still had to contend with the the taut fabric, an unmistakable yellow silhouette ac­ ever-present burden of mile-high density altitude. In centing the sea of blue. such an environment, the Stearman, featuring a high This throwback to open cockpits and silk-scarf flying center of gravity, a total absence of forward visibility in comprises more than her constituent parts. The fat the three-point position, and a closely coupled main wings, the long wheel struts, the round engine do not landing gear, became even more of a handful when reveal much by themselves. But here, in the sky, the landing. The nagging tendency of the taildragger to common thread in her experience, one can feel where want to swap wingtips upon settling onto the ground she has been and how she has touched generations with was accentuated by Reno's thin air. Perhaps the Navy, in the wonder, the magic, and the spirit of fight. its rush to churn out qualified aviators, felt that the In January 1943 Stearman serial number 07479 challenging conditions imposed by Nevada's high desert sprang into being legitimately at the big Boeing plant in would help speed up the process of weeding out those Wichita, Kansas, bearing the name of her gifted patri­ lacking aptitude for flight. The boys graduating primary arch, the otherwise unheralded aircraft designer Lloyd at Reno had to have been really good. Stearman. From the humble flatlands of Kansas, she Today Reno's most notable aviation connection is its traced the route of ten thousand of her brethren via annual air-racing extravaganza. Sometimes, during an ferry flight to a training unit in a corner of America. A interlude of a few minutes between competitions, a war was on, and farm boys, emboldened by dreams of Stearman, albeit with extra horsepower and a non-regu­ dashing through the stratosphere in the hottest new lation paint scheme, roars into the crystal clear dome fighters, wanted to learn how to fly. overhead, trailing a plume of air show smoke. Gyrating A week after her rollout, the Stearman was delivered through variations of the basic maneuvers learned in ad­ 10 MAY 2002 joining blocks of airspace more than a half-century ear­ don his fellow airmen. Admiral Marc Mitscher, like lier, a veritable cousin of my plane, conceivably Prescott of Bunker Hill, issued an order that would ring produced next in line, thrills tens of thousands of spec­ for years to come with the force of a great patriot's char­ tators. Little did the cadets who trained at Reno know acter. "Turn on the light," the admiral decreed. The that one day people would pay to see this biplane cavort Bunker Hill, along with the other carriers strewn across in the sky or that flips and reversals in an aged trainer the open sea that night, served as a beacon for the belea­ would provoke cheers. guered planes and recovered them as rapidly as possible. By the late summer of 1943, the Navy transferred my A new chapter in naval aviation history was written as Stearman closer to the fleet, near picturesque San Fran­ most of the aviators survived. cisco. At the Livermore Naval Air Station, she helped to When in homeport, the pilots of the Bunker Hill had train some of the more than four thousand cadets who Stearman 07479 available to them. That men of such passed through the Naval Aviation Primary Training conviction who touched her rudder pedals, stroked her (NAPT) program there. Only a year-and-a-half before, throttle, nursed her into the air prompts me to think of the first training plane landed at the newly constructed them and their squadron mates every time I launch into air station and its pilot was warmly greeted by the wife the sky at the controls of this glorious relic. Their dedi­ of one of the local ranchers who had baked a cake for cation and sacrifice ensured our freedom, and, not the occasion. inconsequentially, the Stearman, lethargic though she Until primary flight training ended at Livermore in Oc­ may be, enabled them in their task. tober 1944, my Stearman labored faithfully in the noble The Livermore Naval Air Station was decommissioned pursuit of teaching would-be aces the art and science of the year after the war ended, and on June 30, 1946, the flight. There surely must have been innumerable instances Navy struck Stearman 07479 from the government's inven­ of ill-coordinated turns, abrupt throttle inputs, and hard tory and sold her. The air station was considered as the site landings, perhaps even a groundloop or two. Yet, the old for the new Air Force Academy, but in 1952 it was con­ girl, her wooden wing ribs firmly fitted to the spar and her verted instead into a branch of the University of California's steel flying wires tightly wrapped, proved both the dura­ Radiation Laboratory. Meanwhile, for just a few hundred bility of the truss construction inherent in the biplane dollars the Stearman, a piece of living history, entered an design and the longevity of true craftsmanship. ignominious period as an agricultural applicator. For the remainder of the war, records show that Stear­ She racked up thousands of hours in her hardly glam­ man 07479 was assigned to the shore establishment of orous new profession until a restorer rescued her in the an aircraft carrier resounding in history for its propitious mid-1980s. Spruced up in old Navy markings, looking name and wartime exploits. When the U.S.S. Bunker Hill no less immaculate as the first day of her existence, I slipped out of the Quincy, Massachusetts, dry dock for took delivery of her at the annual National Stearman its maiden voyage exactly one year after the Pearl Har­ Fly-In in west central Illinois and flew her home in a for­ bor raid, its namesake, the hallowed site of the historic mation that included two other restored Stearmans. The Revolutionary War battle, was not far away. The carrier traverse at low level across Midwestern cornfields and and its air group fought throughout World War II as if cow pastures in the company of friends on a day marked imbued with the fighting spirit displayed at the Battle of by a sparkling blue sky was an unforgettable flight, a fit­ Bunker Hill on June 17, 1775. Attempting to hold the ting renewal for a once adorned old training plane. high ground in Charlestown, the American commander, Every chance I get, I fly her with the war veterans Colonel William Prescott, who, outnumbered and facing whose first airborne experience was in the type as stu­ a shortage of ammunition, is reported to have given his dents. Because of the advanced age of the old flyers, men the order: "Don't one of you fire until you see the some are no longer able to climb up onto the lower wing whites of their eyes." and raise their legs over the side of the fuselage to access The Bunker Hill would have made Prescott proud. The the cockpit. And so they just stare at the plane they carrier partiCipated in the Rabaul strike, supported the knew, the plane that gave them wings. There is always a landings on Tarawa and Iwo Jima, and stayed afloat after sparkle in their eyes and enduring affection for the air­ sustaining internal damage and more than six hundred craft that offered them their first taste of life in the air. casualties from two kamikaze attacks at Okinawa. The Long before I was born, Stearman 07479 broke the ship's defining moment came when sailing as part of a bonds of gravity, fulfilling dreams of flight and exposing sprawling task force in the evening hours of June 21, a cadre of purposeful young men to the promising and 1944. During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, Navy boundless realm of the heavens. The ideals, fears, and planes, low on fuel and ragged from combat, returned to aspirations of the prior occupants have not left this the fleet in darkness. sometimes ornery but always honest beauty. Rather, the Regulations forbade nighttime illumination in enemy qualities of her many pilots over the years live on in waters for fear of submarine strikes, but the task force every flight. Woven into her fabric is the essence of her commander, a wizened naval aviator, would not aban­ being, the soul of an airplane......

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1 1 H.G. FRAUTSCHY

e've been lucky in the planes are hard to come by, and An­ loaded the M-1 onto a trailer in Cali­ past decade. Many drew figured he'd have to build it fornia with the Curtiss-Wright and airplanes we never from scratch. No big deal to him, towed them both home to his farm thought we'd see in the air are now but there's a lot to do, with a ton of strip in Lovettsville, Virginia. Be­ plying the skies. The various Gee Bee research, so the potential project cause he didn't have any immediate replicas, the DH 88 Comet, the slept in his mind. plans for the M-1, Bob dutifully Wedell-Williams 44, some of the While working for Ken Hyde, An­ stored it in his barn, and it had been most perfect replicas of World War 1­ drew happened to mention the idea there ever since. era fighters ever seen, and soon the to an airline pilot friend of his. By the time Bob and Andrew Hughes H-1 and the Laird-Turner Sure enough, the reply was the hooked up in 1995, Andrew was Special. You can add the Ryan M-1 words you're all mouthing right now: ready to get to work, and M-1 fuse­ to the list. Most of us have never "There's a fuselage of one of those sit­ lage was just the spark to get things seen one in anything other than a ting in a barn 30 miles from here." going. Andrew loaded it onto the grainy black-and-white image in­ "Yeah, right," Andrew thought. top of his car and drove down to cluded in books or on jumpy, Thank goodness for people who Ken Hyde's shop, where Ken had ancient newsreel footage. buy things and put them away, graciously allowed Andrew some Thanks to Andrew King, the air­ knowing they'll be useful someday. space to work on it. Andrew or­ plane whose structural design gave United Airlines pilot Bob Buck had dered his first tubing from birth to the Ryan NYP, Lindbergh's bought a Curtiss-Wright 16E from a Dillsburg Aero on March 13, 1995. Spirit ofSt. Louis, is flying once again. guy in the California desert back in Sections of tubing in his airplane Andrew had long wanted to re­ 1969, and the same fellow also had a are in fact from the original fuse­ build an M-1, but sometimes dreams Ryan M-1 fuselage. Knowing he was­ lage, but the majority of the take a long time to ferment and n't going to do anything with it, fuselage structure is new material. come to fruition. Early Ryan mono­ that fellow gave it to Bob, who That's for two reasons, the first of 12 MAY 2002 HG FRAUTSCHY

which was pretty obvious-the were pictures of it next to the proto­ each other! original was not in airworthy con­ type Ryan STA (the Ryan ST at the The odds of them coming together dition. Second of all, the actual time). So I'm 99 percent sure that after so many years are high indeed, fuselage has some historical signif­ the fuselage we had is in actuality even though not that many M-ls icance. I'll let Andrew explain: serial number 11." were built during the model's produc­ "We didn't know the identity of Andrew was in regular correspon­ tion run. Ryan built the first six, the original fuselage at that point. I dence with aviation author John powered by the 200 hp Wright J-4 managed to get paperwork for serial Underwood, and Andrew men­ (the prototype was powered by a ISO number 7, so that is how the air­ tioned that he was sure it was SIN hp Hisso, then converted to the J-4), plane is registered. During the course 11. John remarked that fact was in­ for Pacific Air Transport. Thinking of my research, I went to the San teresting because Charles Lindbergh they'd be an immediate hit, Ryan Diego Aerospace Museum several had flown serial number 11 on June continued to build five more, pow­ times, and there were several modi­ 2, 1928, when Al Menasco owned ered by the Hisso, but they didn't sell. fications on the original fuselage we it. It appeared that Andrew had an In debt to the bank, which was cover­ had. There was an extra tube put in original Ryan M-l fuselage that had ing construction costs with a loan, and fittings for brakes. It had extra been flown by Lindbergh. Oddly B.F. Mahoney and T. Claude Ryan, sheet metal put on it on the front. enough, Bob Buck owned the data­ the principals in Ryan Airlines, were You could tell where the attach plate for SIN II, but he had no relieved when a fellow showed up points were. paperwork for it. A collector in Cal­ with an offer to buy them "for an up­

"I was going through the photo ifornia offered to send the dataplate coming promotional tour. II archives in San Diego and came to Bob upon hearing that he owned The fellow left a deposit on the upon a picture of a fuselage modi­ the fuselage for an M-l. Neither five airplanes, which were due to be fied exactly like ours. It was one of them had any idea that the finished and delivered a few days af­ identified as serial number 11. There two pieces actually belonged to ter a formal order was drawn up.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13 drawings were no longer available. conversion, Unfortunately, Andrew thinks Ed the 150 hp couldn't resist improving the air­ Hisso was plane while he was drawing it, and reinstalled. many of the details were simply re­ After a crash called from memory 40 years before. in the early Andrew found he had to sift fact 1930s, it wound from fiction by doing his own re­ up in Balboni's search and comparing it to the aviation junkyard original fuselage. Ed Morrow's draw­ planes were to be in Los Angeles, ings were helpful, but not the last delivered, the two aviation business­ where a couple of Ryan Aero­ word on accuracy. Andrew's sure men snapped open their morning nautical students later found it. They he'd have never been able to com­ newspaper and read about plans for a bought and rebuilt it, adding the plete the airplane if he hadn't had Mexican revolution that had been sheet metal and extra fittings Andrew the original fuselage to start the uncovered by the federal govern­ would find years later. Unfortunately, project-there were just too many ment. The revolution had collapsed it was again involved in an accident problems with the drawings and when an agent for the revolutionaries in 1936, and that's where the paper other information. was captured in the United States at­ trail for SIN 11 ends. He visited with Ty Sundstrom in tempting to buy supplies. To the Because the paperwork for Ryan businessmen's horror, the agent M-l SIN 7 still existed, that's how turned out to be the very fellow who the airplane is registered in the ex­ had placed a down payment for the perimental exhibition category. Ryan M-ls! Since this category has a 300-mile Shortly thereafter a federal agent operational limit, Andrew must call came to interview the Ryan princi­ the local FAA Flight Standards Dis­ pals. The upshot was that the Justice trict Office whenever he's planning a Department wanted to impound all cross-country to a fly-in or an event five airplanes for the duration of the such as EAA AirVenture Oshkosh or trial. T. Claude Ryan pled his case to the Sun 'n Fun EAA fly-in. the official to no avail, and got the Traveling cross-country isn't new same result from the U.S. attorney to this project. Career changes had handling the case. Only the inter­ Andrew lashing the welded-up fuse­ vention of a local lawyer on the lage to the top of his station wagon company's behalf kept Ryan Airlines to drive it from the East Coast of the from going under. The government United States to the West Coast, and Andrew King, time machine builder allowed four of the five aircraft to be then back again less than a year later released. If it hadn't, there might when he decided to start his own Visalia, California. Ty had rebuilt not have been a Ryan Airlines business. By then, he had welded the the M-l that is on display in the around for Charles Lindbergh to tail group and done more work on Museum of Flight in Seattle, and he contact in February 1927. the fuselage. While in California, he had a number of rusted pieces that Ryan eventually got the fifth air­ had the opportunity to do more re­ were useful for reference, including plane back, with a coating of dust search on the M-l, and discovered the welded section of the lower fuse­ and rust from sitting unused in a Ma­ that even the information he'd lage, fittings, the fuel tank, and rine Corps depot on the other side of thought was pretty reliable was not other bits and pieces. Andrew pho­ the field while it served as evidence as solid as he believed. Ed Morrow, tographed, drew, and documented during the Mexican revolution trial. who had been with Ryan since the as much as he could. Ryan sold it to AI Menasco, who used conversion of the Douglas Cloudster Because the M-l, the later Ryan it as the test-bed airplane for a new into a cabin airplane, was also pres­ Brougham, and the Spirit ofst. Louis engine he was selling. The engine was ent during the construction of the all shared common parts or at least an air-cooled version of the 250 hp M-l and many subsequent Ryan proj­ sections of parts (for example, the Salmson he had converted from its ects, including the NYP. In the 1960s, Spirit's ailerons are the same as on original water-cooled design at his he made a set of drawings of the M-l an M-l, with the tapered outer por­ shop in Los Angeles. When it was in (he also did a set of drawings for the tion removed), Andrew was able to the air-cooled configuration, Lind­ Ryan NYP, the Spirit ofSt. Louis). Ap­ use much of the accurate informa­ bergh flew it. After Menasco was done parently, the original Don Hall tion to his benefit. 14 MAY 2002 To GUIDE THEIR By now you can see just how of mountain flying, when de­ much book-work and research went livering the mail meant taking WAY IN GOOD into the project before the actual chances, and the outcome was­ WEATHER AND BAD, parts were made. It's also clear how n't always pleasant, and was that book-work paid off. Other than sometimes deadly. Andrew's THE PACIFIC AIR Andrew's use of a 300 hp Lycoming Ryan even smells right, but for an engine, the airplane's interior we'll touch on that a bit later. TRANSPORT AIR­ and exterior immediately take you Once Andrew moved back to MAIL PILOTS HAD back to the time of hand-spliced ca­ Virginia he set up his own busi­ bles, flax cord, and Pyrene fire ness, Bald Eagle Aviation, in NOTHING MORE extinguishers. A time when a pair of the shop of his friend, Bob inclinometers, a turn indicator, and Buck, who offered him the use THAN A MAP, THEIR the wind on your cheeks were all of a large, heated hangar to you had to keep the airplane upright start his business and helped during the inevitable encounter him by machining parts. with poor weather. A time of opti­ Andrew's choice of a 300 hp mism tinged with the fierce reality Lycoming wasn't by chance.

The instrument panel of the M-l has the same configuration as the Spirit ofSt. Louis. In the center is a turn indicator and a pair of inclinometers.

The roomy cock­ pit of the M-l combined with the wing's low mounting was de­ signed to give the pilots as much visibility as possi­ ble, but it still feels like you're peering down a narrow tunnel when you look straight ahead. Stories abounded about the trim system on the M-l. For example, the airplane had to be slowed to near a stall before the handle Uust visible The stops on CAM route 8 are on the right side of the cockpit) could be moved easily, but Andrew has found it to be detailed on the fin of the M-l. delightfully easy to use throughout the airplane's speed range .

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1 5 The tailskid geome­ Andrew neatly dupli­ try was a bit tricky cated the landing to get right, with a flare tubes based fair amount of fid­ on an original set dling needed over owned by Steve Pit­ the past year to get cairn. No, they're it to be dependable. not loaded. Drop­ It incorP9rates a ping a flare from small roller at the the air has been il­ tip for maneuvering legal for a long the airplane on time! pavement. Grass field operations are preferred.

dealing with a one­ piece, 36-foot-long wing. More than one person sug­ gested he build it in three pieces, but An­ drew didn't want to mess wi th the looks and structure of the Even the landing original. So he did lights are correct, the next best thing. right down to the Knowing he'd be new, old-stock splicing the wing lamps installed be­ spars to make a wing hind the enormous that long, he simply landing light lenses. built a pair of wing panels with the splice joints for the spars meeting in the While he would have loved to install a rod aerobatic center. He took the Wright J-4, one of the many engines mount. That was­ construction of the offered for sale on the M-l, the rarity n ' t what the n ew wi n gs as far as he of that engine and its spare parts made owner of the PT could by only work­ it a less than ideal choice. But to keep wanted, so he was ing on one wing at a the flavor of the J-4, he wanted a nine­ ready to sell the ra­ time, and then cylinder radial, and the Lycoming's dial engine. A joined them at the front-mounted pushrods help the air­ quick call to An­ very end . Flipping plane look just right. The Lycoming drew sent him scurrying to buy it, and the wing to work on each side was a also makes the M-l a bit more practi­ in short order h e shipped it to Jack big chore, requiring the help of six to cal from an operational standpoint, Lanning in Arlington, Washington, eight people to flip it over. For much with parts more available should a for an overhaul. Jack specializes in of the work, Andrew worked on the mechanical repair be needed. Kent older Wright, Continental, and Ly­ wi ng with it set on edge in a quartet McMakin of Brodhead, Wisconsin, coming engines, and Andrew couldn't of wing stands he built. Even then, he found this particular Lycoming for be more pleased with the results. It said that working on a wing with a 7­ Andrew. Kent's known for understand­ hardly uses oil, burning what some foot chord was pretty intimidating. ing how a Ranger engine fits on the would consider great oil consumption lilt was the only airplane I've ever front of the Ryan PT-22, and when a for a modern flat-opposed engine, one worked on where I could kill myself fellow came to him wanting that in­ quart every four hours or so. liThe en­ falling off a ladder spraying the formation , the 300 hp Lycoming gine has been magnificent," said wing," he joked. became part of the conversion. It was Andrew. The airplane is covered in Ceconite bolted to the front of a PT-22 that had Andrew had to jump a few practi­ and finished with Randolph dope. iiI been modified in the 1960s as a hot cal hurdles along the way, like was trying to make a time machine, 16 MAY 2002 and I wanted it to smell like dope," the tail of Bob Coolbaugh's Mono­ ternational Airport reworked the in­ Andrew said as he recalled his decision coupe, which Andrew helped restore. struments, and Am erican Stripping in using the older finish. The mark­ Plenty of other folks from coast Company in Manassas, Virginia, ings also were done the old-fashioned to coast had a hand in creating blasted and then powder-coated the way-by hand. Patti House of Purcel­ this time machine. Ken Hyde, in entire fuselage frame. John Murray lville, Virginia, is a local sign painter, addition to his shop space and en­ of New Melle, Missouri, bent the and Andrew found her by merely look­ couragement early on in the project, axles for the landing gear and the ing in the phone book. He took her supplied a rare older-style turn indi­ leaf springs for the tailskid. The axles the fin and had her do the lettering cator. The magneto switch came are an inte resting piece of work. for Pacific Air Transport's stops along from Ray Fo lsom of Lomita, Califor­ Each is made using a pair of 0 .120 the CAM 8 route. A couple of days nia, and Brian Cough lin of wall 4130 steel tubing pieces, tele­ later it was done, and the total charge Cazenovia, New York, came up with scoped one inside of the other. Then was less than $100. Patti came over to the inclinometers. Dave Rogers of the double-wall tubing is heated and the hangar and quickly hand-painted Instrument Pro at the Oakland In- continued 0 11 page 26 the lettering on the fuselage, again for what Andrew thought was a great price. "You need to work slower and charge m ore," he chided Patti. As a side note, she also did the lettering on New Tappet Bodies Now Available For A-65's I C-85's

VINTAGE RESOURCES

PATTI HOUSE SIGN DESIGN INC. PURCELLVILLE, VIRGINIA 540-338-5614

JOHN MURRAY TAILSKID, LEAF SPRING, AND AXLES NEW MELLE, MISSOURI 636-398-4640 C-85 STC'd To Use New INSTRUMENT PRO INC. 0-100 Crankshaft, Rods And Pistons OAKLAND, CALIFORNIA 510-635-1142 At Aircraft Specialties Services we believe produce them ... and for a reasonable price. sport-pleasure flying is just as vital to aviation as Keeping our aviation heritage alive and flying is business flying. We make it a point to try and an important part of keeping U.S. aviation alive GOLDEN AGE A I R MUSEUM supply the needs of our sport aviation users. and well. GRIMES AIRFIELD When C-85 crankshafts got scarce, we Whatever your aircraft engine reconditioning 371 A I RPORT ROAD engineered a PM.A. to produce .020 under needs---<:rankshafts, counterweights, from A-65 BETHEL, PA 19507 bearings for the A-65 / C-85. We also have to TS10-550 or 0-235 to TI0-540, call us for available an STC to replace C-85 crankshafts quality work at a reasonable price. We also PHONE Be FAX: 717-933-9566 with new 0-200 crankshaft, rods, and pistons for stock a full line of top quality parts for your E-MAIL: [email protected] less than the price of a serviceable C-85 convenience. Give Aircraft Specialties Services crankshaft. And when A-65/C-85 tappet bodies a call today, we'll "keep you flying". AMERICAN STRIPPING COMPANY became scarce, we engineered a PMA to MANASSAS, VIRGINIA CALL: 1-800-826-9252 703-330-2977

BALD EAGLE AVIATION --+ ,-+c..." -'.' P.O. Box 11 ELKWOOD, VA 22718 703-477-1577 2860 N. Sheridan Road , Tulsa , OK 74115 Phone: 918-836-6872 Fax: 918-836-4419

VINTAG E AIR PLAN E 17 WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

BUTLER BLACKHAWK Jeff Robinson of Blaine, Washington, sent in­ respondence between Stearman and Varney regarding progress and completed shots of the restoration of his the conversion to a C3B. Still later, it was used as a Stearman C3B powered by a Wright J-5 . Varney Air crop-dusting airplane. Jeff bought it more than 20 Lines first owned the 1928 biplane, restored by Kent years ago in a dilapidated condition. Now beautifully McMakin of Brodhead, Wisconsin. It was first desig­ restored, it features Stearman's unusual color scheme nated a C3L, powered by a 165 hp Comet engine, and option: yellow on the top of the upper left wing and later Varney converted it to the J-5. Jeff has all the cor- on the bottom of the lower right wing panel.

18 MAY 2002 SCHWEIZER 1-26 I'll bet there are plenty of us who have had this experience. Roger Go­ moll bought this glider, a 1955 Schweizer 1-26, Serial Number 016, in 1988 and flew it for a season. That October he stripped the fabric from the fuselage thinking it would be an easy wintertime project. While sandblasting the fuselage, he discov­ ered, to his horror, that all of the longerons and much of the cockpit section was the 4130 equivalent of Swiss cheese. During .a 12-year period he built a jig, rebuilt the fuselage, moved three times, re-covered the airframe with Ceconite, changed careers, stripped the wings, changed jobs again, and finished the aircraft with the help of a new co-owner, Rodney Carey. It flew again on Armistice Day, No­ vember II, 2001.

1929 TRAVEL AIR C-4000 Dan Neuman Jr. of Tucson, Arizona, has spent the C in C-4000 stands for the engine, in this case a rare last six years on the restoration of his Travel Air C- 170 hp Curtiss Challenger Six-cylinder radial. Juptner's 4000, and he is now in the process of covering the U.S. Civil Aircraft shows 25 serial numbers for the C- airframe with Grade A cotton. He's planning on paint­ 4000, with a note that a few more were built. We look ing the Travel Air's fuselageblue, with silver wings. The forward to seeing Dan's completed restoration.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19 THE --r:lOCgT Alr:l SHIP:» Oddball projects were not just limited to the Pioneer Era! FERRELL F. POWELL

n Friday, June 10,1955, I A Mercury sedan and an ambulance airplane was quite different. There was a young man with a followed. The motorcade crawled to a was a bit of Buck Rogers, maybe even O year-old private pilot cer­ halt with the crowd closing in on all a hint of Jules Verne, in the genes of tificate in my wallet. I joined a sides. Mr. Pritchard, a confident-look­ this strange creation. As ide from its growing crowd of people standing ing gentleman wearing a white shirt, unusual appearance, the first thing to on a taxiway at the Emporia, Vir­ sport coat, and dress trousers, exited catch one's eye was the name that ginia, airfield. We were there to the Mercury. Several reporters imme­ Pritchard had given to his plane. Em­ witness "aviation history in the diately took him under interview. blazoned in ten-inch letters on either making." A local man had an­ Behind the pickup and perched side of the shiny ai rcraft were three nounced that he was going to atop the flatbed trailer was Pritchard's words, "Rocket Air Ship." test-fly his new homebuilt airplane. wingless airplane, glistening brightly Viewed from the side, the 22-foot­ One without wings! in the morning sun. For certain, this long, all-aluminum fuselage was Mr. Charles Pritchard, a gang fore­ man for the Virginia Railway Company, had spent about two years of his spare time creating the wingless airplane. Pritchard had a pilot's certificate and was regarded as a decent aviator. He was also an amateur inventor and a self-styled visionary who reputedly thought that traditional winged aircraft would someday be replaced by more advanced designs. He was getting a head start in this effort. Al though his wingless plane had been fabri­ cated locally in a roofing and metalworking shop, [ could find no one in the crowd who knew exactly what it looked like. In fact, the con­ figuration of the plane was a hot topic that morning and a matter of high speculation and anticipation. Flashing lights riveted everyone's attention to a small motorcade ap­ proaching from the far end of the taxiway. A Ford police car, with red lights pulsating in the grill, led a pickup truck pulling a flatbed trailer.

Thanks to Ferrell Powell 's Kodak Brownie camera, we have this series of photos of Charles D. Pritchard's spectacularly un­ successful " Rocket Air Ship. " Now if Pritchard had just used the wings from the wrecked Cessna 120 .... 20 MAY 2002 craft. The closest things to wings were Somehow, this added a rather two small "winglets," one on either whimsical touch to the picture of side of the fuselage. Angled down at Pritchard sitting in his unlikely ma­ about 45 degrees, each winglet con­ chine. He then signaled for tained an aileron-like control surface everyone to clear away as he started to regulate the side-to-side rolling the engine. The 85-hp Continental movement of the aircraft. One of the sounded exactly like it was still 10­ more flamboyant design features was cated on the front end of a Cessna a rather tall, odd-shaped vertical fin 120 light plane and clearly inade­ on the plane's nose. Placed there to quate for this dart-shaped projectile. enhance lateral control, it reminded Pritchard taxied slowly out to the me of a rooster's crown. 5,044-foot runway, the longest one The apparent ques­ at the airfield. He lined up and be­ tion was: Exactly what gan a series of taxi runs. A chase car was going to provide carrying a Civil Aeronautics Au ­ the lift to get this air­ thority (CAA) official followed craft into the air and behind. The aircraft's speed in­ keep it airborne"? As the creased with each run, until a police moved the vibration in the nose wheel halted crowd back, and as the the test temporarily while an adjust­ "Rocket Air Ship" was ment was made. Then, a successful being unloaded from run at a much greater speed indi­ the trailer, I sought out cated that the time had come for an shaped like a blunt-nosed dart. one of the newsmen who had inter­ attempt to take the aircraft into the Viewed from the front, its cross-sec­ viewed Mr. Pritchard to get an air. The moment of truth! tional shape was clearly octagonal. answer to this question. Taxiing to the end of the runway, On each side of the fuselage, three A young reporter, notebook in Pritchard turned his airplane around six-inch-wide aluminum fins ran lat­ hand, was willing to share some of and was looking down almost a mile erally from the nose back toward the the things that he had just learned. of clear pavement. He gave it full tail. I would soon find out that these Pritchard theorized that the air throttle and the aircraft accelerated elo ngated fins were a vital part of passing over, unde r, and around down the strip. A tense crowd Pritchard's theory on why the air­ the fuselage would be "held and watched as he pulled the nose wheel plane would be able to fly. channeled" by the six-inch-wide off the ground and tilted the craft's Flush Plexiglas windows, conform­ lateral fins, which ran along the nose skyward. The aircraft kept rolling ing to the overall smooth shape of sides of the fuselage. This, in the­ forward on the two main wheels the fuselage, provided visibility to the ory, would provide the necessary faster and faster, with the nose up front and to the sides for the pilot lift to keep the aircraft airborne. and the tail nearly dragging the pave­ who sat well back in the fuselage. Just Pritchard had mentioned to the re­ ment. Finally, it veered off into the forward of the pilot was the engine, porters that he could have t ested tall grass at the edge of the runway. also tucked within the confines of the his airplane in the wind tunnel at Several other attempts resulted in dart-shaped fuselage. A metal pro­ Langley, but turned down the op­ the same failure to get the aircraft peller, tricycle landing gear, and a portunity because he was so sure of airborne. However, during these conventional tail-assembly provided his theory. He had suggested to the subsequent runs, Pritchard was able evidence that Pritchard's "Rocket Air reporters that his wingless concept to keep it centered on the runway, Ship" shared some of the familiar fea­ could soon revolutionize the whole even during a dicey braking proce­ tures of a normal airplane. Actually, a world of aircraft design . The re­ dure at the far end. After the fourth number of its parts had been scav­ porter volunteered that Pritchard attempt, the CAA official stopped enged from a Cessna 120 that had seemed a bit on the eccentric side, a the test runs. He pronoun ced the endured a near-terminal mishap in a characteristic often found in those aircraft unsafe and officially cornfield near Covington, Virginia. who think "outside the box." grounded it. This action, in effect, These parts included the complete As Pritchard climbed into the put an end to the active life of the tail-assembly, two spring-steel land­ "Rocket Air Ship," he leaned out airplane and to any further attempts ing gear legs, the seat, instrument and smiled for a couple of news to get it airborne. In the next day's panel, and engine. photographers. The as-per-regula­ newspaper, Mr. Pritchard was quoted I could detect no airfoil or major tion word, "Experimental," was as saying, "The Rocket felt like it lifting surface anywhere on the air­ painted on the side of the cockpit. wanted to fly." ....

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21 PASS IT TO BUCK

BY E.E. "BUCK" HILBERT , EAA #21 VAA #5 P.O. Box 424 , UNION, IL 60180 Remembering the Spirit

Dear Buck, the streamer on the container got I read your column in the Febru­ hung up on the tail wheel of the ary Vintage. Your recollection of Spirit making it necessary for a sec­ Lindbergh flying over Rockford, Illi­ ond attempt. It was successful. I've nois, and dropping a message enclosed a photo of Mr. Clark with container brought back memories Gene Chase (I think) and the for me. I too remember him as he "Spirit." A very moving display along with flew over Middletown, Ohio, on his Lindbergh has always been a hero some of the Lindbergh memorabilia. nation-wide tour. I was only five of mine. I have also visited his They have added some more things years old, but I remember very gravesite on Maui, twice. that a local lady had saved all these clearly the bright silver Spirit ofSt. You have perhaps read A. Scott years, so it makes quite a display. Louis as it flew very low over our Berg's latest book Lindbergh. If you Thanks for the tip on A. Scott neighborhood as he circled. We lived haven't, I highly recommend it. It is Berg's book. I'll have to get a copy of only about a mile from the airport. also on audiotape, read word-for­ the tape; I could use a diversion like He did not land, but as he did at ward. I like the tape as I can listen to that. Rockford, he dropped a message it in spurts when I'm in the car. Also, Next time you see the movie Spirit container. The chairman of the Mid­ I'm a lazy reader. ofSt. Louis, think of me. In 1957, I dletown City Commission, Marvin Hope you and H.G. can make it was privileged to fly Jimmie Stewart Clark, with the appropriate media to Middletown to the Aeronca Con­ and the Warner Brothers Public Re­ attention, retrieved it. vention, June 14 & 15. lations people on a 30-day tour The EAA Spirit ofst. Louis dupli­ Best wishes & happy flying, publicizing the picture. We then at­ catea"this event in 1977. I believe Bob Hollenbaugh tended the premiere in Hollywood Gene Chas was Middletown,OH where I rhet Jayne Mansfield, Gary the pilot. A Cooper, ~ nd several other promi­ much older Bob, nent st ~ rs. It was one of tl1e Wha\a pleasure to he'f trom\'You highlights of my career with United. and to Hnd out you were bitten by Jimmie Stewart was exactly the the airplane disease th~ame way I kind of person you saw in the movies s. Wasn't that a "I&QqJl'tas the and a great pilot as well. By the time i

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23 FLY-IN CALENDAR MAY I9-Warwick, NY-EAA Ch. 501 Annual Fly-I n. Warwick Aerodrome (N72). 10 a.m .-4 p.m . Registration for judging closes at 2pm. Info: 212-620-0398 MAY 24-2S-Atchisol1, KS-36th Annual Kansas City Area Fly­ In, Ameli a Earhart Memorial Airport (K59) . Info: 816-238­ 216 1 or 816-363-6351, or [email protected] MAY 2S-Zanesville, OH-EAA Ch. 425 Fly-In/ Orive-In Breakfast. Rive rside Airport. 8 a.m.-2 p.m. Breakfast a ll ~C~ _1\ day, lunch ite ms 11 a.m.-2 p .m. Fly Market. Info: 740­ ~;\. 454-0003 /? - ~.--~ MAY 26-Portllge, Wl-EAA Ch. 371 Fly- In Breakfast. 7 a.m.­ Noon. Info: 608-742-3300 "- .> MAY 3I-JUNE I-Bartlesville, OK-16th Annual Biplane Expo

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25 were made to duplicate one original supplied by Forrest Lovly. Jon Aldrich and Frank Pavliga contributed to the navigation lights, and Jerry Impellezari had the plastic lenses for the navigation lights, as well as the new, old-stock landing light bulbs. They look just like household light bulbs, except they have quarter-turn turn bases and are marked with

the legend II Airplane Headlamp" on the bulb. Afew other folks have helped along the way. Andrew's parents, Bill "50111 of the Spirit" continued from page 17 a thinner cross-section of tubing, and Jane King, were big supporters which, while lighter, would likely from the beginning, and he really ap­ bent, resulting in a strong axle that snap before bending. preciates their willingness to join in will bend before it breaks. This con­ The navigation lights are a unique his dream to see a Ryan M-l in the struction avoids having to heat treat touch, as are the landing lights, which air. Bob Coolbaugh is another friend

MIKE'S HANGAR is "Practicing Fly high with a a Tradition" quality Classic interior Complete interior assemblies ready for installation Custom quality at economical prices. We provide the following services: • Cushion upholstery sets >- Restorations • Wall panel sets • Headliners >- Paint and Fabric • Carpet sets • Baggage compartment sets >- Metalforming • Firewall covers >- Fabrication • Seat slings

>- Custom Building Free catalog of complete product line. Award Winning Restorations Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and Mike Williams styles of materials: $3.00. 3811 River Road, Columbus IN 47203 812-375-1954 fax: 812-314-0954 Qir'~RODUCTS, INC. e-mail: [email protected] 259 Lower Morrisville Rd., Dept. VA Fallsington, PA 19054 (215) 295-4115 Visit the Website: www.mikeshangar.com website: www.airtexinteriors.com Fax: 800/394-1247

26 MAY 2002 who contributed to the project and helped out whenever he could, even while he was up to his elbows in the second restoration of his beloved M.onocoupe. And Bob Buck, who supplied Andrew with his shop space, the original Ryan M-1 fuselage, and consistent practical support, was always there when his help was needed. Only months after Andrew had taken him for a ride in the new M-1, Bob Buck passed away last December. It's obvious that the help of his friend is still deeply appreciated and will be long remembered. A couple of people also signed the airframe while it was under construction. Reeve Lindbergh was giving a speech at the Smith­ sonian National Air and Space Museum, and she graciously signed a wing rib of the M-1, as did pioneer glider maker Paul Schweizer, who penned his name on the wing when he visited the shop one day. If you'd like to see the M-1, it's kept most of the time at the Golden Age Air Museum in Bethel, Pennsylvania. Paul Dougherty has put together an interesting collec­ Workshop Schedule tion of airplanes, and if you're in May 31-June 2. 2002 Griffin. GA I August 17-18. 2002 Arlington. WA the area I'm sure they'd appreciate ADVANCED TIG WEL DI NG SHEET METAL COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT. a visit. FABRIC COVER ING June 7-9. 2002 Corona. CA Each airplane has its own per­ RVASSEMBLY I Sept 14-15. 2002 Denver. CO sonality, and to some, the Ryan SHEET METAL M-1 is pretty homely. It wasn't June 21-23 2002 Griffin. GA COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT. TIG WELDING FABRIC COVERING built for looks; it was built to do a INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG. job, and its popularity on the CAM ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS June 21-23. 2002 Frederick. MD routes attested to the work put & AVIONICS RVASSEMBLY I forth by the Ryan people. Its son Sept 20-22. 2002 Griffin. GA didn't do too badly either on its July 12-142002 Griffin. GA TIGWELD ING RVASSEMBLY 3,600 mile journey across the At­ RVASSEMBLY I lantic. The Ryan M-1 was just what Sept 20-22. 2002 Corona. CA August 9-11. 2002 Griffin. GA LANCAIR ASSEMBLY was needed at that time, and when TIGWELDING I Don Hall had to adapt it for the Sept 27-29.2002 Corona. CA RVASSEMBLY New York-Paris ship, the design August 16-18. 2002 Griffin. GA was equal to the task. RVASSEMBLY I Oct 4-6. 2002 Griffin. GA ADVANCED TI GWELDING After a while, it grows on you. Just ask Andrew: liTo me it looks Visit www.sportair.com for a complete listing of workshops. like a 1920s or '30s metal pedal toy that is blown up to full size. It 1-800-WORKSHOP has that clunky, funny look to it. I $PORrAIR 1-800-967-5746 love the look of it-" Did a proud WORKSHOPS [email protected] father ever speak truer words? ...... --00-­

VINTAGE AIRPLAN E 27 Aircraft Exhaust Systems VINTAGE Jumping Branch, WV 25969 TRADER 800-227-5951 30 different engines for fitting "The use of Dacron or similar modern malerials as asubstitute for coHan is a dead giveaw,y to Ihe knowing eye.They limply do nollook righl on vinloge oircr,ft," from Robert Mikesh, former (Uralor of Ihe Nolional Air and Sp,ce Museum, in his book Restoring Museum Aircraft. . , . ~• y--::.7"". ~ >_ - VI/HAGE. AE.RO fAP.>RIC;: LTD ". /- :-'; <~-:-'-, .r. "" PURVEYORS "" \ ' . ""j-" '''. "',-" -, - . buy, '·F':,. , ,'. Something to 'h+~. : Don 't compromise your restoration with modern coverings sell or trade? ... finish the job correctly with authentic fabrics . .., (erlilkaled Grade A(allan Classified Word Ads: $5 .50 per 10 \, -':'''1 Early aircraft (allan words, 180 words maximum, with bold­ \ Imporled aircraft Linen (beige and Ian) face lead-in on first line. German WWl lozenge prinl fabric \,; ~J-.' Fabrk lopes: frayed, slraighl, pinked and early American pinked Classified Display Ads: One column .. Waxea rmen Ia(ing (ord wide (2.167 inches) by 1, 2, or 3 inches Antiques, Warbirds, General Aviation Pure cotton machine and hand sewing thread high at $20 per inch. Black and white only, 304-466-1724 Fax 304-466-0802 Vinlage Aero FabriCS, lid. 316 (reekwood Dr., Bordslown, KY 40004 and no frequency discounts. lei: 502-349-1429 fox: 502-349-1428 websile: www.avciolh.com Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of sec­ www.aircraftexhaustsys.com "Original Nieuporl 28 reslored by Vinloge Avialion Services" ond month prior to desired issue date (Le., January 10 is the closing date for the March issue). VAA reserves the right to re­ ject any advertising in conflict with its policies. Rates cover one insertion per is­ sue. Classified ads are not accepted via phone. Payment must accompany order. Word ads may be sent via fax (920-426­ 4828) or e-mail (c/[email protected]) using credit card payment (all cards accepted). Include name on card, complete address, type of card, card number, and expiration VERY RELUNCTANTY date. Make checks payable to EAA . Ad­ A timeless dress advertising correspondence to EAA FOR SALE investment that Publications Classified Ad Manager, P.O. even Wall Street Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. 1929 C-3R Stearman original BABBITT BEARING SERVICE - rod bearings, should envy. main bearings, bushings, master rods, valves, - Very rare; on a scale of 1-10 a 9.5 Award Winning Vintage Interiors piston rings Call us Toll Free 1-800-233-6934, - One owner for more than 40 years. e-mail [email protected] Web site - Washington area Paul Workman www.ramengine.com VINTAGE ENGINE MACHINE WORKS, N. 604 FREYA ST., -Fax: 509-973-3177 OHIO AIRCRAFT INTERIORS SPOKANE, WA 99202. - Phone: 509-973-2297 (evenings) Parr Airport (421) Zanesville, Ohio 43701 Airplane T-Shirts Because of age and hearing loss, prefer fax 800.794.6560 150 Different Airplanes Available WE PROBABLY HAVE YOUR AIRPLANE! www.airp/anetshirts.com 1-800-645-7739 Want to see your plane or Flying Wires for Sale THERE'S JUST NOTHING LIKE IT ON THE WEB!! pearls of wisdom in print? www.aviation-giftshop.com Can view inventory list at A Web Site With The Pilot In Mind Write an article for (and those who love airplanes) www.flyingwires.com

For sale, reluctantly: Warner 145 & 165 engines. 1 VINTAGE AIRPLANE 800-517 -9278 each, new OH and low time. No tire kickers, please. We're always looking for technical Two Curtiss Reed props to go with above engines. articles and photos of your latest 1966 Helton Lark 95, Serial #8. Very rare, PO-8 restoration. We can't offer you money, certified Target Drone derivative. Tri -gear Culver but we can make you a hero among fel­ PRIME Cadet. See Juptner's Vol. 8-170. Total time A&E low Vintage Aircraft enthusiasts! CLASSIFIED REAL ESTATE 845 hrs. I just have too many toys and I'm not get­ Send your submissions to: ting any younger. Find my name in the Officers & AVAI LABLE ON THIS PAGE ­ Directors listing of Vintage and e-mail or call Editor, evenings. E. E. "Buck" Hilbert Vintage Airplane $20 PER INCH/PER MONTH Wanted: Kinner #610 taper shaft prop hub. TO MAKE Russ, 610-372-7333. P.O. Box 3086 Oshkosh, WI 10,000+ IMPRESSIONS. For Sale: 1914 Benz 6-cylinder cutaway en­ gine, restored, with its original propeller and 54904 CALL JULIE AT EAA HQ Salmson 9-cylinder radial engine, complete with e-mail: [email protected] 920-426-6127 mags, carb and prop. Wanted: Antique airplane For pointers on fonnat and content feel free engines, even in very bad condition, rotary, if to call 920-426-4825 possible. Phone: 01141 - 79 334 6789 FOR MORE INFO.

28 MAY 2002 VINTAGE Membership Services Directory- AIRCRAFT ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EAA AND ASSOCIATION THE EAA VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION ~ EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 OFFICERS Phone (920) 426-4800 Fax (920) 426-4873 Web Site: http://www.eaa.org alld http://www.airventure.org £·Mail: vintage @ eaa.org President Vice·President Espie " Butch~ Joyce George Daubner Flight Advisors information . . .. 920·426·6522 P.O. Box 35584 2448 Lough Lane EAA and Division Membership Services Greensboro, NC 27425 Hartford, WI 53027 800·843·3612 ...... FAX 920·426·6761 Flight Instructor information ... 920·426·6801 336·668·3650 262·673·5885 [email protected] [email protected] (8:00 AM-7:00 PM Monday-Friday CST) Flying Start Program ...... 920-426·6847 • New/ renew memberships: EAA, Divisions Library Services/Research ...... 920·426·4848 Treasurer Secretary (Vintage Aircraft Association, lAC, Warbirds), Medical Questions ...... 920·426·4821 Steve Nesse Charles W. Harris 2009 Highland Ave. 7215 East 46th St. National Association of Flight Instructors Technical Counselors ...... 920·426·4821 Tu lsa, OK 74147 Albert Lea, MN 56007 Young Eagles ...... 920·426·4831 507·373·1674 918·622·8400 (NAFI) [email protected] • Address changes Benefits • Merchandise sales AUA ...... 800·727·3823 DIRECTORS • Gift memberships AVEMCO ...... 800·638·8440 David Bennett Jeannie Hill Term Life and Accidental ...... 800-241·6103 P.O. Box 1188 P.O. Box 328 Roseville, CA 95678 Harvard, IL 60033 Programs and Activities Death Insurance (Harvey Watt & Company) 916·645·6926 815·943·7205 EAA AirVenture Fax·On-Demand Directory [email protected] [email protected] ...... 732-885·6711 Editorial Robert C. "Bob" Brauer Steve Krog Submitting article/ photo; advertising informa· 1002 Heather Ln. Auto Fuel STCs ...... 920-426·4843 c~3~i;: tlol06~0 Hartford, WI 53027 Build/ restore information ..... 920-426·4821 tion 773·779·2105 262·966·7627 [email protected] [email protected] Chapters: locating/organizing . . 920-426·4876 920-426-4825 ...... FAX 920-426·4828 John Berendt Robert D. "Bob" Lumley Education ...... 920-426·6815 EAA Aviation Foundation 7645 Echo POint Rd. 1265 South 124th St. Cannon Fails, MN 55009 Brookfield, WI 53005 • EAA Air Academy Artifact Donations ...... 920·426·4877 507·263·24 14 262·782·2633 • EAA Scholarships Financial Support ...... 800·236·1025 [email protected] [email protected]

John S. Copeland Gene Morris lA Deacon Street 5936 Steve Court 01532 Roanoke, TX 76262 North~8~3~~:N;\ 817·491·9110 copeland [email protected] [email protected] MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION Phil Coulson Dean Richardson 1429 Kings Lynn Rd EAA AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $15 28t1;'t~ i ~r~~fr. Stoughton, WI 53589 fo r Foreign Postage.) 616-624·6490 608·877·8485 Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Associ· [email protected] [email protected] ation, Inc. is $40 for one year, including 12 issues of Roger Gomoll Geoff Robison SPORT AV1ATION. Family membership is available WARBIRDS 321 ·1/2 S. Broadway #3 1521 E. MacGregor Dr. for an additional $10 annually. Junior Membership Current EAA members may join the EAA War· Rochester, MN 55904 New Haven, IN 46774 507·288·2810 260·493·4724 (under 19 years of age) is available at $23 annually. birds of America Division and receive WARBlRDS [email protected] [email protected] All major credit cards accepted for membership. magazine for an additional $40 per year. Dale A. Gustafson S.H. "Wes" Schmid (Add $16 for Foreign Postage.) EAA Membership, WARBIRDS magazine 7724 Shady Hills Dr. 2359 Lefeber Avenue and one year membership in the Warbirds Divi· Indiaj'trz~~'.~3t6278 Wauwatosa, WI 532 13 414·771·1545 VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION sion is available for $50 per year (SPO RT [email protected] [email protected] Current EAA members may join the Vintage AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $7 for Aircraft Associaton and receive VINTAGE AIR· Foreign Postage.) DIRECTORS PlANE magaZine for an additional $36 per yea r. EMERITUS EAA Membership, VINTAGE A IRPLANE EAA EXPERIMENTER magaZine and one year membership in the EAA Current EAA members may receive EAA Gene Chase E.E. "Buck" Hilbert Vintage Aircraft Association is ava il able for $46 EXPERIMENTER magazine for an additional 2159 Carlton Rd. P.O. Box 424 Oshkosh, WI 54904 Union, IL 60180 per year (SPORT AVIATION magazi ne not in­ $20 per year. 920·231·5002 815·923·4591 cluded). (Add $7 for Foreign Postage.) [email protected] EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magaZine is available for $30 per year (SPORT ADVISORS lAC AVL4TION magazine not included). (Add $8 for Foreign Postage.) Alan Shackleton Current EAA members may join the Interna· P.O. Box 656 tional Aerobatic Club, Inc. Division and receive Sugar Grove, IL 60554·06S6 6301466·4 193 SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an addi· FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS 103346.1772@

Copyright ©2002 by the EM Vintage Aircraft Association All rights reserved. VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091·6943) IPM 1482602 is published and owned exclusively by the EM Vintage Aircraft Associatior of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EM Aviation Center. 3000 Poberezny Rd. , PO. Box 3086, Oshkosh. Wisconsin 54903·3086. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EM Vintage Aircraft Association, PO. Box 3086, Oshkosh , WI 54903·3086. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via sur· face mail. ADVERTISING - Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken. EDITORIAL POLICY: Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. No renumeration is made. Material should be sent to: Editor. VINTAGE AIRPLANE. PO. Box 3086, Oshkosh , WI 54903·3086. Phone 920/426·4800. EAA® and SPORT AVIATIONIlI, the EAA Logo® and Aeronautica TN are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service marks without the pennission of the Experimental Aircraft Association , Inc. is strictly prohibited. The EM AVIATION FOUNDATION Logo is a trademark of the EM Aviation Foundation, Inc. The use of this trademark without the permission of the EM Aviation Foundation, Inc. is strictly prohibited.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29 - ,~~ . 7'VINTAGE MERCHANDISE

a. Golf Shirts...... $31.95 The Vintage golf shirt is your versatile, comfortable, 100% combed cotton sport shirt for almost every activity. Seagrass: Burgundy md V00539 sm VOO543 Ig VOO540 Ig VOO545 xl VOO541 xl V00546 2x V00542 2x VOO547 Ocean Blue Maize Yellow sm VOO549 sm VOO555 md VOO550 md VOO556 Ig VOO552 xl VOO558 xl VOO553 2x VOO559 2x VOO554 ORDER ONLINE WWW.EAA.ORG b. Select Bound Vintage Volumes Limited quantities of Vintage bound ~olumes are available. 1990 and before ...... $25.00 After 1990 ...... $30.00

c. Travel Mug ..... V00342 $12.95 Classic stainless steel mug with plastic handle and cap. Standard base fits most car cup holders.

TELEPHONE d. Coffee Mug . .... V00234 $4.95 ORDERS Enjoy your morning coffee with this blue trimmed Vintage logo mug. 800-843-361 FROM US AND CANADA ALL OTHERS CALL e. Vintage Caps ...... $12.95 920·426·591 2 Choose a color and style to fit your personal taste.

Royal Blue ...... ~j ••••••• V00355 P.O. Box 3086 Khaki ...... V00356 OSHKOSH, WI 54903·3086 Olive (not shown) ••••••••••••• V00357 Maroon ...... V00438 Red wjnavy (not shown) ••••••• V00361 Khaklwjnavy ...... V00439 Yellow wjnavy ...... V00435 Natural wjred (not shown) •••••• V00436 Red wjblack ...... V00437

e.

30 MAY 2002 Leather Bags from Vintage Aircraft An embossed logo graces each of these finely crafted, genuine leather bags, which come in either tan or black.

f. Leather Briefcase .....••••• $79.95 tan V00497 black VOO510 Crafted with a rich design, this case has several interior pockets and goes from home to the boardroom in style. Approxi­ mately 12"h x 16"w x 4.5"d

g. Leather Pouch ...... ••• $21.95 tan V00584 black V00513 Flapped, soft leather bag has shoulder strap. Approximate size: 7.5"h x 5"w x 15"d

h. Leather Backpack .••.•.•••$49.95 tan V00498 black V00511 Perfectly sized with convenient zippered pockets on the inside and outside. Ap­ proximately: l1"h x g"w x 4.5"d

I. Leather Pocket Bag (black only) .••.•. • .••• VOO512 $46.95 Convenient phone/sunglass pocket make this bag a definite accessory. Approximate size: 9"h x 6"w x 3 "d

j. Embossed Denim Jacket •.•.. $65.99 Cotton denim jacket with Vintage patch on the front and embossed planes and logo on the back. xl VOO243 md V00241 2x V00244 '""~?.. ~. Ig V00242 . • TM DON'T MISS OUT ON THESE GREAT VALUES! ORDER NOW

TELEPHONE ORDERS 800-843-3612 FROM US AND CANADA ALL OTHERS CALL 920-426·5912

ORDER ONLINE WWW.EAA.ORG

MAIL ORDERS P.O. BOx 3086 OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31 Robert Busbby Minooka,IL _ Learned to fly in 1943 at the age of 16

_ 4500+ hours of pleasure flying _ Holds SMEL rating

_ Designed and produced the Midget Mustang and Mustang-II aircraft

His 1949 Navion is th e second aircraft Robert Bushby has insured with AUA.

/II had insured my previous aircraft, a 1946 Fairchild 24 with AUA. I liked

their competitive rates and excellent service. It was therefore only natural

that I would insure my present 1949 Navion with AUA also. When I had a

question they had the answer. Never a need to check and call back./I - Robert Bushby

AUA is Vintage Aircraft Association approved. To become a member of VAA call 800·843·3612.

AUA's Exclusive EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Insurance Program Lower liability and hull premiums Medical payments included - Fleet discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages - No hand-propping exclusion No age penalty - No component parts endorsements - Discounts for claim-free renewals carrying all risk coverages

The best is affordable. Give AUA a call - it's FREE! 800-727- 3823 Fly with the pros... fly with AUA Inc. • • o n Ford

HENRY FORD, Founder - What most heirs inherit is a job, a business to be maintained, a responsibility to be shouldered. To inherit the managing control of a factory or other business is to be saddled with a task, upon the wise performance of which depends the employment of men and the livelihood of families.

!§1t4i.J..FlL - BILL FORD, Chairman and CEO ••II'I.II.,ies