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.. ¥¥ THE RESTORER'S CORNER by J. R. NIELANQER, JR.
Since this is the Christmas Season, our thoughts naturally tum to acts PLANE. We plan to publish the full list of Type Club Officers and Type of good will toward our fellow men. Probably nowhere else in the hobby Club Newsletter Editors in a future edition of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE world is the Christmas Spirit practiced year round to the extent that it is as soon as space will permit. Additionally, we shall plan to publish a re practiced in the EAA and in its Divisions. Helping each other is a major vised version of this list on an annual basis. part of our activities. We who are involved in Division Headquarters man Your Division Officers, Directors and Advisors wish to extend to you agement frequently receive letters asking for help in locating aircraft parts and to your families their most sincere best wishes for a very Merry Christ or technical information. Naturally, we do not always know the answers. mas, a most joyous Holiday Season, and a very Happy New Year. May 1977 Frequently, the best that we can do is to suggest that the writer can prob be the year that your grounded birds receive all the necessary Tender Loving ably obtain the desired information from a Type Club and then supply Care needed to strengthen their wings and to put them back in the air where him with the name and address of the Type Club President or Chairman. they belong. On rare occasions when there is no known source to answer the inquiry, we run the letter in the MAIL BOX column and hope that some of you mem bers can be of assistance. When one of these letters does appear in print, this is your opportunity to be helpful. If you think that you have any in formation which might be of help to a fellow member, even if it is only a small part of what he needs, please practice the year round Christmas Spirit and take the time to write to him and pass on to him your knowl edge of the subject. He will, of course, be most grateful for your help, and you will have the great satisfaction of knowing that you have been of ser vice to one of your fellow men and that possibly you have supplied the one missing link which will put another fine restoration back in the air. Concerning the Type Clubs, your Division Headquarters has on file what is probably the most complete list of Type Club Officers and News letter Editors. We wish to cooperate with all of the Type Clubs to the fullest extent possible. We shall continue to refer all specific aircraft queries to the Type Club Officers as we have been doing in the past, and we shall continue to invite the Type Clubs to conduct forums during the EAA Con vention at Oshkosh each summer as has been our policy since the Division was founded. In return, we ask only that the Type Clubs keep us informed of any changes with regard to names and addresses of their Officers, and At this, the Holiday Season, we all seem to stop and reflect on all we request that they put the Editor of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE and the the good things that happened to us during the past year. Your Edi President of the Antique/Classic Division on their newsletter mailing lists. tor and I certainly have gained many friends and made many con In this way your Division Headquarters staff can keep abreast of what is tacts during this last year, and wish to thank all of you for your ex- , happening and can handle your inquiries in a much more informed man pressions of encouragement on behalf of Vintage Airplane maga ner, thus better serving you, the member. Also, pertinent Type Club in zine. We wish to take this opportunity to wish you all much hap formation which would be expected to appeal to a large segment of the piness and cheer throughout the New Year. Division membership could then be published in THE VINTAGE AIR- Lois Kelch, Assistant Editor OFFICIAL MAGAZINE EDITORIAL STAFF ANTIQUE / CLASSIC DIVISION of THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
DECEMBER 1976 VOLUME 4 NUMBER 10
Publisher Editor Assistant Editor Paul H. Poberezny AI Kelch Lois Kelch
ANTIQUE / CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERS CONTRIBUTING EDITORS The Restorer's Corner...... 1 H. N. " Dusty" Rhodes PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENT Evander Britt An Endangered Species ...... 3 J. R. NIE LANDER , JR . JACK WINTHROP Jim Barton Stainless Steel Tub ...... 7 P. O. BOX 2464 RT . 1, BOX 111 Claude Gray FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33303 ALLEN , TX 75002 Vintage Album ...... Ed Es callon 9 Rod Spanier A Silver Eagle ...... 11 SECRETARY TREASURER Dale Gustafson RICHARD WAGNER E. E. " BUCK " HI LBERT Henry Wheeler P. O. BOX 181 8102 LEE CH RD. Morton Lester LYONS, WI 53148 UNION , IL 601 80 Kelly Viets Directors Bob Elliott EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION MEMBERSHIP Jack Lanning Claude l. Gray, Jr. AI Kelch Bill Thumma 9635 Sylvia Avenue 7018 W. Bonniwell Road Glenn Buffington Northridge, CA 91324 Mequon, WI 53092 o NON-EAA MEMBER - $34.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique/Classic Division, 12 ADVISORS monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; one year membership in the Experimental Aircraft Associa James B. Horne Evander M . Britt W. Brad Thomas, Jr. tion, 12 monthly issues of SPORT AVIATION and separate membership cards. 3840 Coronation Road Box 1525 Oale A. Gustafson 301 Dodson Mill Road Eagan , MN 55122 Lumberton, NC 28358 7724 Shady Hill Drive o NON-EAA MEMBER - $20.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique/Classic Division, 12 Pilot Mountain. NC 27041 Indianapolis, IN 46274 monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; one year membership in the Experimental Aircraft Associa George E. Stubbs M. C. " Kelly" Viets tion and separate membership cards. SPORT AVIATION not included. Robert A. White Box 113 RR 1, Box 151 RogerJ, Sherron 1207 Falcon Drive o EAA MEMBER - $14.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique/Classic Division, 12 monthly Brownsburg, IN 46112 Stilwell. KS 66085 446-C Las Casitas Orlando. FL 32803 Santa Rosa, CA 95401 issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE and membership card. (Applicant must be current EAA member and must give EAA membership number. William J. Ehlen Morton Lester Maurice " Sonny" Clavel Stan Gomoll Ro ute 8, Box 506 P. O. Box 3747 Box 98 1042 90th Lane, N.E. Tampa, FL 33618 Martinsville, VA 24112 Wauchula, FL 3387S Minneapolis, MN 55434
THE VINTAGE AIR PLANE is owned exclusively by Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc. arid is published monthly at Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130. Seco nd class Postage paid at Hales Corners Post Office, Hales Cor PICTURE BOX ners, Wisconsin 53130 and Random Lake Post Office. Random Lake. Wisconsin 53075. Membership rates for Antique Class aircraft, Inc. at $14.00 per 12 month period of which $10,00 is for the publication of ON THE COVER (Back Cover) THE VI NTAGE AIRPLANE. Membership is open to all who are interested in aviation. Matty Laird in cockpit of his Super Fleetwings Seabird, owned by Solution. Come to Sun 'N Fun Fly-In Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc., Box 229, Channing Clark, of California. See at Lakeland, Fla. Jan. 17 to 23 where Hales Corners. Wisconsin 53130 article on Page 3. the restoration project will be on dis play, assembled, ready for cover.
Copyright 0 1976 Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc. All Rights Reserved. 2 ' ~ , ' ••~ , :~ -= ~ . ..~ . ~ , ~~ ="0)
w-J=' ~ Fleetwing has a V-shaped rakishly swept wind screen, a two step hull and a 285 hp Jacobs engine mounted high above the wing on struts. It follows a classic style of amphibian design, which has al ways been an attractive configuration to the eye. The bare steel hull with its nea t rows of machine turning, makes the Fleetwing a very impressive sight indeed. Channing Clark discovered the airplane wast ing away in a field of tall grass in a backyard at Costa Mesa, California. The plane had been sitting so long it was sinking slowly into the sandy ground, with the timbers under it molding away. The plane had sat idle from 1950 until acquired by Clark in 1963. When Clark first approached the plane, he reports it had a hole in the bottom and the oleanders were growing up through the bottom of this stain less steel and glass greenhouse. The fabric was hanging in ribbons, and it was without instru ments. Clark had spotted this plane 10 years earlier, but did not purchase it on his first trip to see it. His description of it was, "She looked like an air plane version of the African Queen". For six years following that first discovery, Clark visited the Fleetwing from time to time, but failed in his at tempts to get the owner to sell the ship. One day when he went to see it, it was no longer there. The owner had decided to sell it on the spur of the moment, and unfortunately Clark didn' t have a chance to purchase it. It was later discovered by Clark around Fulton, California airport, where it had been kicked around for a few years, and again joined the weeds. He finally managed to purchase Channing Clark at the controls of his Seabird. it from the owners, and began the arduous task Note the heavy levers to retract the wheels. of rebuilding her. It was a long tedious search for missing parts and special tools required to do the One of the rarest endangered species of birds work on stainless steel in order to effect the re ested in the Seabird and became an official crew is the Fleetwings Sea Bird, otherwise known as pairs, and took many, many hours and years. Spe chief, a position he still retains. a stainless steel goose, owned by Channing Clark cial welding machines were located, and because During the four years of restoration, it was of Los Angeles. of the difficulty in rectifying the mistakes with the used as a teaching tool at Glendale College, where A four place, single engine amphibian is of all welder, each repair was mocked up on the bench Clark taught airframe overhaul and maintenance stainless steel construction throughout. It is the before repair was made on the hull itself. After repair for 17 years. prototype #1 of a seri es of six machines that Fleet each stringer was replaced and the sheet metal The Seabird's past history has been a gap in wing built in the mid-thirties, and is the only sur shot into place, with the shot welder, solder was its long line of owners and work record, but in viving one of the six machines. It was first launched fl owed into the seams to insure water tight in the records is the history of its having been flown in the Delaware Ri ver at Bristol, Pennsylvania in tegrity. During the reclaiming and rebuilding, from Indiana to California on a ferry permit in 1936. A truly classic product of the thirties, the Norman Neuls, a friend of Clarks, became inter- 1948. At the time, pilot Herb Sampson noted fuel 4 splashing around in the bilge. It became very evi dent that the splashing of the fuel was not in the wing tanks where it belonged, but where normal seepage water would be, below the floorboards. As would be standard procedure in such a case, Sampson elected an immediate landing in a plowed field, carrying along with him no less than 3 wire fences of 5 strands each. It was quite obvious that the sparks created from such a fence scratching must have sent king-sized chills up and down Sampson's spine, with all that gaso line sloshing around the belly and all those sparks, it's nothing short of a miracle that the airplane did not burn. The forced landing "did-in" the gear and each landing leg had to be rebuilt on the spot, with parts gleaned from an unfortunate BT-13. It Above & Below: One of the last remaining Sea cost Herb $75.00 to mend the fences and when it birds, N16793 represents a bygone era in air came time to take off, the farmer refused to take craft construction methods. Such an aircraft down any more fence so Herb would have suf would be too expensive to build in this day of ficient room to take off. As a result, the Seabird high labor costs. It is a pity. became a STOL airplane, and got off the ground in surprisingly short order. The remainder of the flight was routine and without further incident. Sampson flew the Fleetwing on the California coast for about six months with aluminum patches covering the holes punctured by the barb wire fences. A considerable time later, another forced landing occurred when the fuel had been drained from the tanks, unbeknown to Herb, and the en gine coughed out over the Pacific, in the middle of the night. Herb bailed ferociously with his yachting cap until a Coast Guard cutter was kind enough to take him in tow. Herb didn't feel saved very long, for the Cutter towed the Seabird into the wind so fast that she was airborne at the end of the tow cable all the way home. The Seabird was retired to Herb's yard for repair, and there stayed until Clark found it, but had a long wait in line to purchase it at a later date, on second The tail wheel controls are interconnected with bounce. a water rudder, which also affords the big ship When the Seabird was first designed, the ques a good measure of steering and grace while afloat. tion of speed was secondary in importance to one Take-off, with pilot and full fuel tanks on smooth of more prime concern of its handling in the water. water, requires 18 seconds, under no wind condi The Seabird is a joyous platform from which to These characteristics proved to be excellent, due tions. Fully loaded, under the same circumstances, view the mountains and lakes of California. to the hull design and the arrangement of the step. lift-off takes 35 seconds. The Fleetwing gets on It handles easily on land, utilizing a tail wheel the step quickly, skims along at high speed very slightly over 13" in diameter, which is retractable. cleanly, and once airborne handles like the grace 5 ful goose she is. The Fleetwing weighs in at about 2500 lbs. empty. Fuel capacity is 52 gallons and 100 lbs. of baggage. The maximum cruise is 125 mph, with the new 300 Jacobs that Clark has in stalled. The service ceiling is 13,000', and the airplane has a range of 450 miles. The Fl eetwing was designed for STOL performance and original ly had a unique feature, which allowed the ailerons to droop, creating all wing fl aps on take-off or landing. This technique was later employed on the ambula nce version of the Stinson L5, and proved to be quite efficient in World War II. Land ing speed for the Fleetwing was published to be 47 mph , w hich is quite slow for a plane of its pro portions and important to any amphibia n . Water contact at low speed is very desirable, for obvious (Glendale College) reasons. The separation of the engine from the Above: Looking forward during reconstruc fu selage is a great sound deadener, and the noise tion. Despite the prolonged storage, the Sea bird's metal was in very good condition, here level in the ca bin is down to a quiet 80 decibles. we are looking forward from the cabin into the During long over water fli ghts, this seemingly cockpit and bow, note the light but rigid con unimportant noise factor can make a lot of dif struction. ference in how much fatigue the p ilot experiences During the years at Glendale College where Clark taught airframe overhaul, the Seabird (Glendale College) - high level noise tends to quickl y deaden the became real again. Below: Looking aft during hull re-work, all the wits of any pilot. An airplane made completely metal trussing between the two braces is new. of stainless steel, as this one is, would be out of Crawl hatch into aft hull is at top of photo. the question in this day and age, the cost being far too excessive to be practical at all. The type of constructi on, using spot welds by the thou sands, would also contribute to a labor factor, fa r in excess of practical. Every joint must either be shot welded, or fa stened with stainless steel screws. If you've bought any stainless steel screws lately, it'll give you an idea of the impracticability of this airplane. Few stainless steel aircraft were ever manufactured and throughout the total of avia ti on his tory, there are only a rare few, of which this one is probably the onl y remain ing ex ample. Its main saving grace is obvious, in that salt water doesn' t affect it in the least - there is no problem of corrosion or rust or any other sort of deteriorati on to plague the plane's owner. The main plague of the owner himself is field repair, since it is im possible to take a shot welder into the fie ld to do repairs. Aluminum or any other material ca nnot be u sed because of the resulting electroly sis, which would cause considerable corrosion . Captain Clark at the bow of his boat? O ne of several items whi ch were improved were 6 tainless teel
~&_ ~ the brakes for the Fleetwings. The master brake pectors, bush pilots and Indians, who remembered understand that it is a perennial favorite at the cylinder and the wheels were impossible to lo when it was operating for Northern Ventures fly-ins throughout the state. It was through this cate, so Clark decided to convert to something Ltd., a gold mining company, connecting the rail visit that I talked friends into furnishing me ma more readily available and used Grummon Wid head with the mine site. terial for this story. I give due credit - the story geon brakes and wheels. The Seabird is now pow On another trip, Clark flew to Bristol, Penn is gleaned from an early issue of Sport Flying, ered by a 300 hp Jacobs, instead of the original sylvania where he talked to several men who par which carried a marvelous set of pictures taken 285 hp engine. The propeller, however, remains ticipated in its construction, test flights and early at the time Clark first flew the airplane after restora as standard equipment, being a Curtiss-Reed type. history. Here he discovered the plane was once tion, and also a later newspaper article published The cowling was appropriated off a Cessna UC flown by Howard Hughes. Flights were also made by the Clear Lake Observer in 1976. Being of stain 78, since the original type was not available. to Louisiana to contact oil well drilling companies, less steel, the longevity of this plane is timeless In October of 1967, Clark finally had the air who used it among the bayous. The Seabird wore and will probably be around to be rediscovered plane flying. When the ink was hardly dry on CAP emblems during World War II and it patrolled many generations later. A really rare and beauti Clark's Water Rating, flights were made to Ber the coast line of the Gulf of Mexico. The machine ful stainless steel goose, flown by a true gentle ryesa and Clear Lake, with his friend and former now is fondly called "Clark's Ark" and is still man restorer, Captain Channing Clark. For those student Paul E. Loewen. Clark has made a hobby flying today. I first saw it at the 1976 Fly-In at of you who haven't seen it, this might be a good of flying back through the machine's history, and Merced, California and can attest to the fact that excuse to go to either Wat~:;onville or Merced has made a flight to Ft. St. James, British Columbia, Clark has well maintained the airplane, and en two great fly-ins in California. Canada, where he talked to miners, trappers, pros joys it immensely. From friends in California, I - Al Kelch, Editor 7 After World War II ended he used his mustering out pay to buy World War I books, cannons and five planes. The early birds of aviation always fascinated him. Back in 1955 he was earning $40,000 a year as private helicopter pilot to a CBS executive and radio time salesman, but left both jobs, and flew to Califor nia when he heard that William Well man was to direct a "Lafayette Escad rille" movie about World War I aces. Tallman was hired as technical director. Now Tallman has six pilots and 45 planes. World War I and II, and antiques going back to the Bleriot flown across Flying on a leg and two wings. Frank the English channel in 1909 by Louis Tallman, 56, who's been flying planes Bleriot himself. The World War I planes since he was 17, has learned to talk freely were used in "Waldo Pepper" which about the leg he lost. Tallman makes his covers, the years from 1920 to 1927, the EDITOR'S NOTE living executing aerial stunts for movies. golden age of flying when barnstormers Some of the planes that starred in the For the past 20 years he's been in earned their way flying anything with early movies were the real McCoy. This volved in some 200 movies. Among them, wings for the sheer love of flying. Bleriot is a good example. Can anyone "It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World" "All the wild things done in the movie identify the engine? Frank is still going and "Catch 22". The latest is "The Great were actually done by the original barn strong, Baa Baa Blacksheep being one stormers," said Tallman. Waldo Pepper," about barnstorming of his latest. He is a perennial adven pilots after World War 1. Its star is Ro In the film they walk on wings, en turer. bert Redford. gage in dog fights and crazy aerobatics, - AI Kelch One day, eight years ago, Tallman and transfer from one plane to another. was chasing his son's motorized cart Before a stand-in did the transfer, Red in the driverway of his home in Califor ford stepped out on the wing of the plane nia, when he fell over it, shattering a at 3,000 feet, so the cameras could get knee socket and hip bone. The leg was a realistic reaction from the cast and amputated. When he was brooding about everyone watching the sequence. his future he remembered the 32 British "In another sequence," said Tallman, RAC aces who lost a leg but continued "he's driving an old car at 60 miles an to fly combat, and Douglas Bader who hour, reaches up to grab a rope ladder talked his way into the RAF with two so Susan Sarandon can climb up to my missing legs, and downed 22 Nazi plane. Her dress blows off when she planes. stands up in the open cockpit. It didn't Tallman never doubted that if they blow off right so we had to do that 12 had gone on flying, he could. times to get it right." A week after he got his articifical leg For another scene, the population he was taking his FAA medical and flight of Elgin, Texas, 1,500 people were check to get all his ratings back. He did, evacuated because Tallman, stand from single engined prop planes to jets, ing in for Redford, flew a plane for copters, commercial gliders, balloons. four blocks down the main street 2 feet He also holds an instructor's license and off the ground. After he finished, direc his transport rating gives him the title, tor George Roy Hill, a crack pilot him Transocean Captain. self, said "Hate to ask you to do it again, "I had one helluva time becoming a but it looks as if you were taxiing." Tall pilot because I never finished high man flew down the street 4 feet off the schoo)," Tallman said. ground. 8 =:; ~~ ~ . ",. Vintagl , . ,.. ~ ,.. . . Men and T ~ · """"'''''''..-' 2:• .~""" "': ' ~...... ~~~ ""'-" - --~
On November 7, 1910, Phil Parmalee carefully strapped and tied a bolt of silk, valued at $1000.00 beside him on his Wright biplane, cranked it up and flew a distance of 65 miles from Dayton, to Columbus, Ohio. He then collected his fee and melted away in history, his name never to be exalted for the thing he had done, however momentous it was. Phil Par malee had started the freight business that today grosses several billion dollars. The flight was merely a curiosity to him at the time, and done more for an advertising purpose, than for real utility. It was not until the end of the first World War that the con cept caught hold, and the carrying of goods and Above 1934: This Fairchild was in all cargo service Below 1919: After the World War , converted Wo rld mail in the airplane began to make headway. between New York and Chicago. War I bombers, like this Handley Page bomber, were The November 1919 issue of "Distribution World" used to start the cargo lines. carried this account: "The airplane is being used as a distributor of commodities between England and France and it is conceivable that the day will come in the United States when merchandise will be transported through air channels on regular schedules, just as the motor truck now is being put to this service. It may even rival the railroads." In that same year, Lord & Taylor, a New York merchandise house, was perhaps the first to try out the airplane as a carrier of merchandise. In February 1919, this firm received a rush order for a consignment of merchandise from a consumer residing in Mt. Vernon, New York. The order was telephoned to the Long Island branch, and the goods taken to the Curtiss Field by truck. The shipment was then transferred to a Curtiss JN4D airplane, piloted by Roland Rohlfs, holder of the World's Altitude record. Fifteen minutes after the plane left the ground, a perfect landing was made at a field at Mt. Ver non. The consignment consisted of a load of nearly 250 Ibs., which includes a bungalow bed, a floor lamp, a fireless cooker, 3 pillows, curtains, draperies, two dozen napkins, 2 tablecloths, one dozen turkish towels, one carpet sweeper, one percolator, and one 9' x 12' rug. The first real load of freight had been carried for a customer wanting speed and con venience over price. <--
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Scheduled airfreight in the United States did not begin until six years later, in 1925, and this milestone was not by a commercial airline, but by an automobile manufacturer who had the foresight to use air transportation to secure a timely supply of spare parts and material for a losing production line, supplanting a higher cost form of transporta tion for a loss in production. Auto parts today re main a leading commodity in the airfreight traffic mix. In 1926, Congress passed a landmark piece of legislation, the Air Commerce Act, from which the airline industry traces the beginning of scheduled service. This 1926 act gave national impetus to Above 1929: The inauguration ceremony to start a Below 1910: The first cargo shipment was this $1 ,000 the development of commercial aviation in the U.S. new airmail route in this Pitcairn Mailwing, developed bot! of silk tied to the wing of the Wright biplane. Airline operators saw the prospect for profit in especially for the job. regularly scheduled air transportation. Mail was of course, the first important cargo to be carried . - by air, and gave many of the airlines their first start. Then came the movement of small packages in a scheduled air service that began seriously in 1927, when the airlines signed an agreement with the old Railway Express Agency under which the REA served as a pickup and delivery agency, This solved one of the serious problems - how does the mer chandise get from the airplane to the factory, or its user. The first common carrier scheduled airfreight service by U.S. airline, was launched on October 15, 1944. It involved two DC3s, one took off from Los Angeles for New York, loaded with airplane parts, wearing apparel and fresh spinach. The other took off from New York for Los Angeles with a cargo aniigh priority products for the military. The story of airfreight with the DC3, the workhorse of all times would, of course, fill books. It was later joined by the DC4, the Stratocruiser and the Lockheed Constellation. The air service lost its romance, and became big business with the appearing of the first jet, in 1958. There are no doubt many stories of romance and high adventure, and wouldn't it be great to talk with the Handley Page pilot, and ask him how it flew or better yet, ride shotgun on a mail run! A SILVER Eagle
By Robert G. Elliott 1227 Oakwood Ave. Daytona Beach, Florida 32014
In the year 1909, Roger Don Rae was born in Bay City, Michigan. Although his father worked for the railroad, he had taken a keen interest in farm life, so when Roger was five or six years old, the family moved from the city to a farm. Roger revealed some of his career highlights recently, within the comfortable surroundings of his trophy room on the lower level of his home in Lakeland, Florida. Proudly displayed were two of his more notable awards, Third Place Plaques from the Thompson Trophy Races in 1935 and 1936. In both races he was flying a Keith Rider racer. " Because my earliest memori es were of that rural life, I have always felt was brought Il P on a farm", r ROGER DON RAE remarked Roger. It was during one of the corn hoeing summer days that r halted my labor to listen to the approaching drone in the s ky. Way up there were (Photo by Robert Elliott) several Curtiss P-1 Haw ks, and even though they Roger Don Rae i n his aviation den at home in might have been too high to be seen cl early, the very Lakeland, Florida holds the two THIRD place . special d rone of those 0 -12 engines di spell ed all doubt plaques he won in the Thomps on Trophy Ra c es better schooling . Dad was of the old school, he wa nted as to their identity. in 1935 and 1936. me to stay on the farm and forget the idea of going They had the most beautiful sound, nothing was to high school. So, ... to be real ca ndid about it . .. class and make a report on w hat we had learned . prettier. From then on, there was no corn hoeing I left home so I could attend high school in Lansing, Our school classes were th e usual, such as Eng lish, until they had passed from sight a nd hea ring, I just Michiga n. Algebra, drafting and such. leaned on that hoe and watched a nd li stened, . . . To fo llow up my interest in aviati on, I d ecid ed to When I requested aviati on mecha ni cs, all" the and hoped. I guess that must have been about 1923 or try an Industrial Course in high school. It wasn't fully coordina tor could think of was auto mechanics, be 1924. credited to enter College, but I thought it would sa ti sfy cause I was the first student w ho had asked for avia A local man, Hank Dora, had a Jenny a nd he o ft en me. We would go to school one week a nd work out ti on training. After a p eriod of looking around, he fl ew it around near our farm. O ne day Dad took us in industry somewhere for th e alternate week. There fin ally located a priva te aviation operator by the na me all out to watch Hank make some landings and take were ma ny courses op en for boys w ho w ished to of Art Davis a t East La nsing. offs .. . and ri ght there I made up my mind. Some learn such trades as printing, plumbing, machinists When the program had been e'x plained to him, thing inside kept saying to me ... " that's it .. . there a nd the like. I remember there was this coordina tor, Art agreed to take on a n a ppre ntice, a nd so it was tha t is nothing else to do bu t fl y". a Mr. Tuttle, who would apprentice the students to I apprenticed at Art's place through my high school This was a mil estone decision fo r a lad 14 or 15 the trade of th eir choice. Usuall y these jobs would ca reer, beginning early spring of 1927. years old. pay about a dollar or two a week to w ork alongside All was not quite as glamorous as I had thought I guess fro m the start, I was never really ha ppy on a n experienced trad esman. it would be at first. Most of this ea rl y ex pe ri ence was that farm. It was all work, w ith not much chance fo r Then, th e foll owing week, we would have to attend in perfo rming odd jobs around the place. I would 11 help to repair a hangar, work on Art's house, cut down trees to cl ear a landing strip and onl y once in a while would there be a n opportunity to be near the pl a nes. My memory does reca ll however, those moments w he n we could rub up against them a nd smell th eir wonderful particul ar aroma th at airpla nes had in those days. During s ummer vaca ti ons I had a job with Art over ha uling engines, doing general repair on pla nes, keeping the gas ta nks fill ed and cleaning up the planes. O n weekends and at the County Fairs I would sell ti ckets in addition to the above. Art had been a military p il ot during WWI, and had taken up barnstorming fo r a ca reer after the War. Among his various planes were a J- 1 Standard, Waco 9 and Thomas-Morse Scout, all OX Powered . Across the road there was a barn fill ed with parts a nd pieces, en ough to furnish replacements for a long time to come. At vari ous times Art did update his aircraft, later acquiring a Waco 10. In this he was progressive. Still later a Waco Straightw ing and Taperwing were pur chased. Most of hi s ac ti vity was concerned with fly ing passengers at his loca l airport on Sundays and (Pilato Courtesy of Roger Don Rae) (Pilato Couresty of Roger Don Rae) holidays during the summer, a nd at numerous Coun Curtiss P-1 Hawk of the 1st Pursuit Group, Selfridge Early Standards about the time Roger was whetting ty Fairs in late summer and fa ll. Field, Michigan, powered with the 0 -12 engine, similar his interest in aviation. On the left in an OX-6 powered Spaced in between these rural and county fa irs, to those Roger watched while hoeing corn on his Standard, while on the right is an 185 hp Mercedes Art did racing at local and National Air m eets, a nd father's farm. Benz powered Standard. by traveling along as a flunky, I was easil y bitten by the racing a nd barnstorming bug . Art would put on a little acrobati c show and pro v ide a parachute jump for passenger ca rrying privil eges a t th ese Fairs. The second summer, in 1928, Art's parachute jumper quit. The re he was with parachutes, but no jumper. I don' t know what he said , or what I sa id, but before [ knew it . .. there [ was out on the wing w ith tha t Ir v in chute stra pped on a nd ready to jump over the Ioni a, Michiga n, Free Fair. An abru pt beginning of a successful pa rachute spot-jumping ca reer spanning those days at the Coun ty Fairs and on into the Nati onal Air Races. I'd fr ee fall maybe 100 or 200 or 500 feet, w hat ever it happened to require, a nd land inside the horse race track w hich was part of the Fair complex. Look ing back now, I can see w here Art had been hard pressed to fulfill h is contract, beca use it demanded a pa rachute jump daily as a feature event. This fea ture was billed for the privilege of a n exclusive con tract to haul passengers. So it was, fair after fair, from the middle of August till into November. 12 During cross-country flights from town to town, Art would place the controls in the front seat cockpit and let me fly straight and level, but as far as concen trated instruction in take-offs and landings, there was none in those early days. It was only during my third year in high school that I began to receiv e serious fly ing instruction. My air time built up very slo wly. Over those preceeding three years I was to have had flight training in return for the labor as an appren tice, but it wasn't until after high school graduation that I would solo. I graduated from high school in 1929 a nd con tinued to work as mechanic and parachute jumper. When there wasn't a weekend Air Meet somewhere, Art would put on an Air Show and Parachute Jump at his local airport and carry passengers. Then in the fall , we'd make the County Fair circuit after which Art would fly to Florida for the winter. He had been doing this for some time ... to sum it all up, ... this was his business, attending the air tours, races and barnstorming. I:$elllg out of school then, I went to Florida with him and another chap named Harvey Hughes. Our headquarters were just outside Melbourne, Florida (Photo Courtesy of Roger Don Rae) and Harvey, who was flying one of Art's planes, Aboll-e: Waco Taperwing formerly owned by North an OX-5 Challenger, KR-31 , finished me off in land west Airlines shortly after being acquired by Roger. (Photo Courtesy of Roger Don Rae) ings and take-offs from a sawgrass strip some six This was his second Taperwing. Below: Keith Rider R-4, No. 70 which Roger Rae flew or seven miles west of Melbourne. It was from that in the 1936 National Air Races. same strip that I soloed. I recall my first real Air Meet. It was in Ypsilanti, Michigan in 1927. I was just a flunky then, ... a prop thrower. I wasn't even parachute jumping then. That was in the spring of 1927 because I remember the Lind bergh flight well. It was a fantastic performance in those days. In the spring of 1930, I had built up a little solo time in Florida, but th e flight opportunities were scarce because Harvey was doing most of the passen ger flying in the Challenger. It all worked out well however, because I got my Private and Limited Com mercial license by early summer in 1930. In the mean time, Harvey had left Art, so when Art offered me the opportunity to fly th e Challenger, I continued to work for him and fly the Challenger on the barnstorm ing trips. Back in those days you had to have at least a Limited Commercial license to fly passengers for hire. I think all it took was 50 hours time to qualify for the license. Art would take the Taperwing and I would fly th e Challenger on weekend Air Meets. Marshal, Michigan, ... Napoleon, Ohio, ... South Bend and Van Wert, Indiana, ... and Defiance, Ohio 13 TIlE ~xnO:\,\L AEIWN\LJflCi\SSOCIATIO~ HI·; I'I
1'1.. ~W1 naced by t.he Event #7 550 cll.in. Displace ment Second Place After winning the Thompson, Detroyat failed to R.tion.! A.l'OI1i!1out.1~ J.uocbtlon •• the Keith Rider, Menasco 544 cll .in. 211.00 mph make the starting line the next morning for the Shell Cup Race, (which had been postponed due to fo g.)
CH.UIPlOllSlilp IUCI..... ?ILOT FOR 19~ Event #11 1000 cll.in. Displacement Fifth Place The race was to be flo wn at Mines Field, the present Keith Rider, Menasco 544 cll.in. 198.51 mph Los Angeles International Airport. Harold Neumann had been doing a lot of winning Event #14 Thompson Trophy Fifth Place and was tired. He knew that Steve Wittman was with (U nlimited Class) out an airplane, as he had lost both of his in accidents, 'l_q/ lInJ.1t~?r,», . ( '-!" _ /,I" t~~-rourth Keith Rider, Menasco 544 cll. in . 205.35 mph so he said to Witt, ... "Steve, go ahead and fl y my air , 1,;,,.1'_,, .1,,,,,1',.,..,/ Wrt7-p"f!Il · "'" Shell Qualifi ca tion Speed-Grollp 2 Third Place plane, make yourself some money, . I'll tell you how to beat Rae." C"-.4.. :r "1'!... ,u.o.. 550 cu. in . Displacement ,,-"""""' Keith Rider, Menasco 544 clI.in 235.33 mph It was a real decent gesture on the part of Neu mann, and Steve agreed to the deal. Neumann's u,) . fZ. "i.-".....j '-"'~'--"'" In addition to these flying wins, Roger was Folkerts was cowled in pretty tight, so he had to take named by The National Aeronautic Association off with a real rich mixture to cope with the engine as the Champion Parachute Spot Jumper for 1934. heat, ... and he told Steve to gradually lean it out once in the air and he could pick up another 300 rpm's. (Photo Courtesy of Roger Don Rae) Photo # 6 Well, .. . there we were in the race, with Witt Roger Don Rae Champion Racing Pilot for 1936. right on my tail and the upshot of it was that he for 1934 Parachute Jumper Award. got to lean it out ... he may have been a bit cautious flying a strange plane for the first time . . . anyway, four hundred pounds. It made a good passenger plane. I won the race. During the early thirties we used to go to Florida The 1935 Nati onal Air Ra ces saw Ro ger Don for the Miami Air Races and Florida Air Tours, and Rae again flying for Rudy Kling. The R-1 had been it was there that I first met George W. Haldeman. reworked in Rudy's garage to provide extra cooling I'd fl y my JYM Taperwing down to Florida and team to th e cylinders. Roger's performance was amazing up with Harrison Frazer to barnstorm central Florida as the following record portrays. fixed-base operator, so we'd fly out to Dad e City, Event #3 Louis W. Greve Trophy, Sat., Aug. 31 2nd Author's Note: Once again the Official Record Zephyrhills and other small towns putting on stunts, 550 cll.in. Displacement shows how well Roger performed in the 1936 parachute jumps and anything to spark some interest. Keith Rider, Menasco 210.125 mph When folks would come out to the fi eld, we would National Air Races. try to sell them rides. Event #9 Louis W. Greve Trophy, Slin., Sept. 1 3rd Event #14 QlIalifying Speed Dash, Fri. , Sept. 45th A name to be remembered from those National Air 550 cu. in . Displacement 550 cll.in. Displacement Race days was Rudy Kling, a garage owner from Le Keith Rider, Menasco 200.829 mph Keith Rider, Menasco 21 8.55 mph mont, Illinois. Rudy was d eveloping an interest in Louis W. G reve Trophy, Free-for-all, Sun., Sept. 66th racing and in 1934 he bought the Keith Rider R-1 Event #12 Thompson Trophy (U nlimited Class) 3rd 500 cu.in. Displacement Keith Rider Menasco 213.942 mph which had been built in 1931 and licensed R-S1Y. Keith Rider, Menasco 212.325 mph It carried the number 131 on the side until the plane Thompson Trophy (Unlimited Class), Mon., Sept. 7 3rd In addition to his outstanding cockpit perfor was d emolished in an accident while Rudy was fly Keith Rider, Menasco 236.559 mph mances, Roger received FIRST PLACE A WARD ing it in 1936. Rudy felt he was not qualified in 1934 Shell CLIp Race Free-for-all , Tlies., Sept. 8 1st in the Parachute Spot Jumping Contest. to fly the racer ... so he asked if I would, to which I 550 cll.in. Displacement Keith Rider, Menasco 225.544 mph It responded "affirmative"! was my first opportunity (Postponed-weather) to fly a plane built strictly for racing. 15 ~
(Photo Courtesy of Roger Don Rae) Below: Group of pilots and their wives at a Forum (Photo Courtesy Roger Don Rae) held in Los Angeles late in the career of Roger Don Rae. (Photo Courtesy Roger Don Rae) Above: Appearing in front of Harold Johnson's Tri Standing left to right: Harold Neumann, Tony Lavier, Above left: Roger Don Rae as a Fordon-Brown Na Motor Ford are members of the former Fordon-Brown Martin Jensen, unidentified, Keith Rider, unidentifed, tional Air Shows performer, standing in front of his National Air Shows performing group. From left to Roger Don Rae, Benny Howard. Seated left to right: Waco Taperwing, the J6-9, 330 hp, his second Taper right are: Harold Johnson; Hugh Thomason (announ Barbara Israel, Frances Rae, Inez Neumann, Mae Haz wing. cer); Buddy Batze", parachute jumper; Roger Don lip, Maxine Howard, Mrs. Tony Lavier, Jimmy Hazlip, Rae, pilot; Dick Granier, pilot; Charley Abel; Joe Gordon Israel. Jacobson, pilot; and Clem Whittenbeck, pilot.
\ Folkerts Special SK-2, " Toots". On February 24, 1937, The National Aeronau During my Fordon-Brown days, I flew my personal old er, .. . so we stayed where we were, flying th e tic Association once again recognized Roger Don acrobatic show with my Waco Taperwing. By then airlines, trying to run the store so to speak. I wouldn' t Ra e for his superb flying ability while performing I had discontinued the parachute jumping and as I have been much good for military life anyway, . . at the National and other Sanctioned Air Ra ces, recall , my last jump had been during the Christmas probably would have been in the guard house ten and awarded him a Certificate declaring him season a t Port Huron, Michigan, when I made a Santa minutes after being sworn in. Champion Racing Pilot for 1936. Much like the Claus jump and landed high in a tree on a real cold During this period of time I was offered the Chief National auto racing of today, points were award day. There were no ladders around, so I had to climb Pilot's job in Chicago, in which I remained for two ed for various race winnings and at years end the down by myself. years. We were opening our International routes pilot accumulating the most points was named About the time that Harold Neumann had gone ri ght after WW II, but I kept putting off getting into Champion. Harold Neumann had won the Cham with TWA, I was being checked out on the Folkerts that. The family was coming along then, and I wasn' t pionship in 1935. 'Toots' by Neumann. After having been introduced much interested in such extensive travel. Right after that racing season, Harold Neumann to Harlan Hull, their Chief Pilot, Neumann had en Once th e newer 'Conni es' came along though, I went to work for TWA with a conditional under couraged me to submit my application with them at decided to make the change and accepted assign standing that Neumann would not race while in the that time, ... where it had remained in their files. ment to Internati onal Operations. employ of TWA. So it was then ... that the SK-2, During mid-1937, when in Detroit, I received a When the jets ca me along I got checked out right named 'Toots' was sold to Ted Fordon of Detroit, phone call from Mrs. Neumann saying tha t TWA away and transferred over. It is rather funny, look Michigan who engaged me to race it. was beginning to hire pilots, and if I wanted a job to ing back on it all now, but among the younger pilots get ri ght down there to Kansas City for an interview. there was an enormous amount of small talk how the Author's Note: Roger Rae took the controls I remember talking it over with Harold Johnson who older pilots would not be able to 'cut the mus tard of this Folkerts for the 1937 National Air Races used to stunt the Ford Tri-Motor in the Fordon-Brown on these jets' ... it would take something like a miracle where he chalked up five SECOND PLACE and Shows, but Harold didn' t think much of the idea. for us to learn to fly them. one FOURTH PLACE win. However, I had decided that's what I wanted, so Our first commercial jet was the Boeing 131 (707), I went down for the interview. Once again, as it had with water injection for take-off. Later on they intro Event #2 397 cu.in. Displacement Qualifying 2nd been with Neumann, TWA conditioned my employ duced the 331, larger e ngi nes but without the water Folkerts Menasco 363 cu.in. 235.208 mph ment upon the fact that I would not race after joining injection. Then came the fan jets, best of all, . . . the Time 12:45 the Company. 331B and 331C (also 707's but modified and updated). I told them that I had a commitment fo r the 1937 I flew a number of Pacific trips during the Viet Event #4 Louis W. Greve Qualifying Group 1 2nd nam conflict. My round trips would start at Travis Folkerts Menasco 544 cu.in. 222.357 mph National Air Races over Labor Day a nd at that late Time 13:29 date it wouldn't be quite right to back out. To this AFB to Saigon and back. We would land in Honolulu, . . . they agreed, and said I should complete their stop over, then on to Okinawa, a nother layover, on Event #6 397 cu.in. Feature Race 2nd co-pilot's schooling from which I would be out by to Honolulu and into Travis AFB. The Saigon Lift was Folkerts Menasco 363 cu. in. 242.676 mph mid-August. I could then complete my engagement TWA's first Pacific experience. Finally TWA was Time 12:21 at the Races and report back to Chicago for assign awarded around-the-world authorization. By this m ent. time, however, it was 1969, . .. and would you believe Event #7 Thompson Qualifying Group 1 2nd TWA was flying DC-2's and DC-3's then, as the it ... I retired just one month short of when th e ac Folkerts Menasco 363 cu.in . 174.473 mph Fokkers, Fords and Northrups had becom e obsolete tual around-the-world operations became fact in Time 17:11 for their operation. This constituted the beginning August of 1969. Event #9 Louis W. Greve Race 4th of my airline career. I'm grateful to a number of people, who during my Folkerts Menasco 363 cu.in. 224.197 mph For the first three months I flew back and forth career, gave me opportunities to advance my career Time 26:45 from Chicago to Kansas City, then came a transfer in aviation. Without this personal assistance from my to the Los Angeles terminal where it was back and fri ends, my aviation career would have been so much Event #11 Consolation Race 2nd forth from there to Albuquerque. TWA continued to less exciting and successful. Wittman Racer 214.436 mph enlarge their activities, . . . therefore to accomplish Menasco 363 cu.in. the promotion to Captain, all Co-pilots were required Time 13:59 to be assigned for a year's flying back east during the Editor's Note: winter months. In 1939 I was transferred back to Chi It was during the year 1937 that I teamed up with Mr. Miller, inventor of the Miller Conversion for the cago to comply with this Co-pilot training requirement. the Fordon-Brown National Air Shows. They toured OX-5, gave a forum at the Oshkosh Convention, text The next fifteen years passed with m y flying al the mid-west and eastern States during the warmer of which we have printed on the following page. most every route TWA had in the east. We were the months putting on Air Shows at various cities. It was He was a very popular fellow, as the picture will con first to fly pressurized aircraft, th e Boein g 307 Strato with them that I ran into Clem Whittenbeck once firm. liners. Then, of course, along came the Constella again, as I had become acquainted with Clem during - AI Kelch tions. During WW II, there were many of us who had the National Air Races of 1936. had no former military service, and were getting 17 during World War I years. Also some fewer counter positively, instead of relying on one spring controlling rotation engines for flying boat use were built. A few the other. I peddled these controls to my friends for OXX6-100 hp engines were manufactured. $10.00 a set, and although the sets were handmade, At this time, some thousands of these OX-5 en they helped boost power. gines were in surplus after the war and were sold Then in order to remedy the premature wearing under sealed bid at as low as $25.00 each in the ori of the exhaust valve guides and seats, we cut off the ginal crates. OX-5 powered IN-4D Curtiss planes tappet end of the exhaust rocker arm, welded on a sold at very low prices under sealed bid, as did the new end equipped with a roller so that the roller would Standard J-l planes, built by Mitsu. & Co. Although freely roll slightly back and forth across the valve stem designed for the 4 cylinder Hallscott A-7-A, the J-1 end, instead of exerting a terrific side pressure as was Standard was eaSily converted to use the OX-5. the case with the original tappet. This improvement These very low cost airplanes, plus the Canadian became as you know THE MILLER ROLLER ROCKER version known as the J.N.4.C. comprised most of ARM, and peddled along with intake control. A very the fleet that spread out to the United States and Canada. satisfactory increase in hours between valve grinding To spread the word to all the World, flying was was occasioned by this improvement. about to take over all transportation problems and Relief of the stress on the water manifold rocker in just a few years, everyone would own their own arm support by the use of the intake control and roller By Leslie C. Miller planes, or would travel world wide, on airlines. rocker arm helped the problem of leaking and broken P.O. Box 2835 I honestly believe these airplanes and their pilots, studs, but not entirely. 1924 rolled around before we got Sarasota, FL 33578 smoothed out the aerial highways, and created a into the rocker arm pin losses. A handmade set of much earlier acceptance of flying than would other intake rocker arms as you know them, was hewed wise have been the case. So you old timers, both from available chunks of cast aluminum with provi FELLOW AMERICANS: and who has the most mechanics who kept the OX-5 engines perking, and sion to make it impossible for the pins to come out, right to consider themselves REAL AMERICANS the pilots who lifted these old crates over thousands was the frosting on the cake . . than all you guys & gals who have spent so many and thousands of hedge rows and fences, loaded This set, combined with the roller rocker arm and hours, days & years, demonstrating your love and with all they could carry, go ahead and justly preen intake control made the first complete Miller Over devotion to a sUbject that has played such a vital your feathers. You had a great job to do, and you head valve system. Adding medium high compression part in making America the greatest nation on earth, did it well. three ring pistons, completed the first Millerized A VIA nON. People like yourselves, adopted the infant, Your early efforts led to better and better airplanes, OX-5. fed it, cared for it, and made it stronger year by year, the Laird Swallow, the Swallow, the Waco 9 and 10, Johnny Meyers in a carefully streamlined Waco, until, by its great strength, crossing the nation in The Travel Air, Eaglerock, Porterfield. All possible and myself in a flying barn door, better known as hours and minutes, and the seas of the entire globe and available within the reach of thousands who had as Eaglerock, ran neck and neck across the United called earth, shrunk till people of other nations become learned the joy of flying, and all powered with the States, in the New York-Spokane derby in September as next door neighbors. Greater understanding be only low cost available engine: OUR BELOVED OX-5. of 1927. Johnny beat me to first place. I got second tween all peoples became a natural by-product of As time went on in the early twenties, as is to be and I know darn well had he had my engine in his swift air transportation. You show your keen apprecia expected in mass produced mechanisms, our old airplane, he would have been shaved and showered tion of pioneer aviation's efforts, in your recalling of OX-5 displayed some of it's frailities that could only before I had arrived in Spokane, I was turning 1800 airplanes and engines of yesterday. be exposed thru thousands of hours of use. Out for 30 hours and 47 minutes. This flight, plus spon It may be interesting to know something of the standing of these problems was the frequent break sor money, plus first place in the Spokane-Portland origin of the OX series of engines: Curtiss, among ing of studs holding the water manifolds, the earlier race, provided the additional capital to open a small other types, built a small 4 cyl. engine with similar than normal wearing of the valve guides and seats, factory in Los Angeles, that was to be the site where water jacketed cylinders as the present OX-5 along the loss of the rocker arm pins, oil fouling of the spark we went into mass production of all that had been about 1913. By 1915 or 1916 a V-8 model appeared on plug, binding of the intake pull rod saddles to the developed to that date. the scene, designated as the OX model. About 70 hp, rod, and consequent interference with proper open The Miller valve guide and valve seat replacement this engine had a mechanically operated exhaust valve ing and closing of the intake valve. All these faults tool soon was born, and thousands of good cylinders same as the OX-5, but had no intake valve opening and some others actually were trivial, but many times could be recycled all over the country by simply re mechanism, depending on suction to open the valve. caused forced landings. placing the guides and seats. There then followed a series of OX type engines SO: SINCE I WAS OFTEN THE RECIPIENT OF I suppose this $35.00 tool was responsible for at to be known as OX-I, OX-2, 3 & 4. Each one a slight OX-5's TEMPER TANTRUMS as soon as I could find least ten more useful years for the OX-5. improvement of the previous model. the time, and money, and shop facilities, I FIRST The little booklet I squeezed a buck apiece out of And then the OX-5 was mass produced by Curtiss MADE THE INTAKE VALVE CONTROL SADDLE you guys and gals for , was inevitable to be written, at Hammondsport, NY, and by the Willies Morrow Co. that converted the opening and closing of the valves and hopefully st. Peter will remember I tried. 18