VOL XXIX #3 1 December 2007 I n t e r n a t i o n a l F l e e t C l u b N E W S L E T T E R Cover Photo 1929 Fleet 2 owned by George Glacius (L) and Frank Huttle (R), Zahns Field, LI, NY, 1947-48 From the Editor Editor / Publisher A fresh oil change, a little rocker Best wishes for a happy, healthy holi- Jim Catalano grease, one last flight and the Fleet day and a great new year. 8 Westlin Lane moves to the back of the hangar to let the “warmer” craft have their day. At Jim Cornwall NY 12518 this time of year in upstate New York, a bit of solar gain from plexiglass and E-Mail the drafty clamshell doors of the old [email protected] Cub seem like a real luxury. A few notes of “thanks-giving” Telephone in keeping with the season: sincere 845 - 534 - 3947 thanks to all the members who have sent in news and photographs, ap- Fleet Web Site preciations and support of various web.mac.com/fleetclub kinds. And many thanks to Sandy Brown, Paul Siebert and John Som- Fleet Net merfield for taking leadership on sort- ing out the Type Certificate issue with groups.yahoo.com/ the FAA. Their work to understand group/fleetnet and monitor the progress of this mat- ter working its way through the bu- reaucracy, and to formulate a re- sponse on behalf of the Fleet Club, is Designer invaluable. Read more about the is- Frank Huttle after taking the controls of Jesse Catalano sue, as summarized by Sandy, below. 615S, 60 years later! VOL XXIX #3 2 December 2007 FAA & TYPE CERTIFICATES windshield which was no really big deal, but troublesome. So I got the bright idea to make up a folding, flat windshield like the Nieuports and SE5s Up until the 1980s engineering data and used in WWI. All I had to go by were a few pic- drawings were available from the FAA. Then the tures, but government’s legal departments advised that all I got the such data which had been given to the FAA for the g e n e r a l purpose of obtaining certification was given as and idea and continues to be proprietary and not for distribution came up to the public. Since then The Fleet Club and other with the Type Clubs and individual restorers and maintain- one in the ers have not been able to get such information pictures. used to safely maintain older aircraft. When it is Over the past few years a fair amount of in the up pressure and requests for data have kept this issue position, on the FAA’s front burner. In early August FAA is- it is held sued a draft Order for public comment titled in place “MANAGING REVOKED, SUSPENDED, SURREN- by a flat plate that I welded on the back side of the DERED AND ABANDONED TCs AND STCs”. Em- fixed piece. When I want it out of the way, I fold it bodied in this Order is the possibility that if a TC forward and hold it down with a swivel fixture. It holder cannot be located, the TC’s data could be works great! available through the Freedom of Information Act. There is also the possibility that Type Clubs and other such organizations could participate as part- ners with the FAA in maintaining and managing the Tom Disher, Tillonsburg, ON, Canada data. If so, this could be a big breakthrough for the [email protected] Fleet Club’s “Fleet CD” project which is a primary Tom Disher confessed to being part of the “Silent source for Fleet aircraft data and drawings. Half...sitting on his ‘seat pack’” of IFC members, October 5, 2007 was the closing date for but made up for lost time with a donation and this comments and three months from then the final report: I was born and raised in Crystal Beach, Order will be issued. We are hopeful that many Ontario, Canada – about 10 miles west of the Fort others besides the Fleet Club responded with their Erie factory of the Fleet Aircraft Co. I believe that comments. A copy of this Order is available on the most of the 16Bs flying today were manufactured FAA’s web site. there. During WWII, Fleet’s Test Pilot Tommy Wil- The Fleet Club supports this order and sent a liams used to do his routine of test maneuvers letter to the FAA with suggested changes for clari- (stalls, tight turns, wing-overs, loops & rolls – but fication. For more information, contact Sandy no sustained inverted flying) testing each Finch in Brown, Paul Siebert or John Sommerfield. the sky out behind our home. In summers, I’d watch him 2 or 3 times a day. In addition to the 16Bs (Finch); I have per- MEMBERS WRITE sonal memories about other Fleet products: in- cluding the Fleet 20 or 21 (?) (the larger bi-plane, Buddy Wehman about the size and weight of a Stearman); the Fleet 60 (the tandem Trainer); the Fleet 50 (the flying [email protected] boxcar); and the Fleet 80 Canuck. Some of my I thought that some of our club members might memories about the closing up of the Fleet factory find the attached photos interesting. I prefer to at the end of WWII – and the total clean-out and fly my Fleet from the back hole but the wind buffet sledgehammer destruction of literally thousands of was annoying so ... first, at the suggestion of a 16B parts and sub-assemblies (by the box-car friend, I took the front windshield off and it just load), including the burning of wings, etc. – already about eliminated the buffet. But when it came painted; alone with Fleet’s store of Kinner B-5 en- time to haul a passenger, I had to reattach the gines and parts – would make any Finch lover cry. VOL XXIX #3 3 December 2007 Over the years I have owned only 2 Fleets: Stephen Wood, Whitewater, CA a 16B (Can. Reg. CF-EKB), away back in 1951, and a beautiful Fleet 80 Canuck (Can. Reg. CF- Stephen Wood wrote after receiving the July ‘07 DQM), 2002-03. I could go on and on about Fleets newsletter and reading it “with relish, as is my cus- and wind-driven generators to power Finch electri- tom.” I do not own a Fleet and only had one brief cal systems, manifold cabin heaters, etc., etc. – chance to fly one – it was Richard Bach’s airplane but enough for now. I’d be glad to answer any at Blakesburg in summer of 1977. I recall that it questions if I can. was well-mannered and a great performer, espe- cially in the climb rate department. I’ve been flying old tail-draggers for about 35 years. Current flag- Clayton Murphy ship is a Beech D-18S. Also keep a C-180, Lus- combe 8A and pre-war T-craft which all get fre- 607-739-0242 quent exercise. [email protected] I’m a retired test pilot for Grumman/Schweizer Ag- Cats, Schweizer DMIR for Ag-Cats, Gliders, Schweizer Soaring School Instructor, Tow Pilot. Worked as an Instructor, Instrument Instructor, Civil Air Patrol Check Pilot, Mission Pilot, Squad- ron Commander, Group Commander. Ran Kirkville AirPark near Syracuse from 1952 until 1968 where Joe Murray rebuilt his fleet. Flew his Fleet at El- mira during an Airshow (not in the show). Retired from Schweizer in 1995 and do not own any air- Erling Johannesson, Iceland craft at this time. [email protected] My Fleet TF-KAN is still in restoration and very lit- Larry Holmes tle work has been done so far, but I hope to be able to give it some time now that I am retired. [email protected] Next August 1 it will be 11 years since its last These pictures were taken at Boeing Field, Seattle flight. I acquired it in 1960 and finished restoring it WA on July 7, 2007 The Museum of Flight held a in 1961 and I have flown it several hundred hours. Bi-Plane Fly-In. Nine planes showed up. I flew in It was doing great until 1996 when it was in dire with David Howie in his Model 7, (sn 155, N432K). need of a new coat. Had a great time. There were two Fleets and sev- I also have a Stearman TF-KAU which has eral Wacos and Travel-Airs. The big guy is Boe- taken a lot of my time. I retired January 1 after 30 ing's Dreamlifter for transporting 787 components years as an airline captain, and since then I have from around the world to assemble at their facility been doing a lot of maintenance work, both busi- in Everett WA. Questions ? Let me know. ness and pleasure. Next time there is a break I will get to the Fleet. I miss the Fleet – it was so much easier to handle on the ramp and the Stearman is quite heavy. Also the Fleet is better suited for our climate here in Iceland as it has the canopy. William Knox, Woodstock, GA Back in ’68 my partner and I bought a Fleet 7, NC63, ser # 402 in Stroud, OK. After flying and en- joying it for over a year, my partner wanted to sell it and buy a German WWII trainer. My mistake was that I didn’t buy his half. We sold it to a fellow from VOL XXIX #3 4 December 2007 Arizona.