VOL. 30, No.

10

OCTOBER 2002

STRAIGHT & LEVELlButchJoyce

2 VAA NEWS/H.G. Frautschy

4 OVER-THE-COUNTER MEDICATIONS

AND FLYING

MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T

6 THE GLOW OF OLD INSTRUMENTS

JOHN MILLER

7 MYSTERY PLANE
8 CECIL HESS AND HIS AIRPLANE

MIss FORTUNE'S PREVIOUS OWNER

WAS A COLORFUL CHARACTER/ Bob Howie

12 EAA AIRVENTURE OSHKOSH 2002

THE VAA AREA WAS THE PLACE TO BE!
H.G. Frautschy

21

EAA SPLASH-IN 2002

Norm Petersen

24 WHAT OUR MEMBERS

ARE RESTORING/H .G. Frautschy

25

PASS IT TO BUCK/Buck Hilbert

27 CALENDAR
28

NEW MEMBERS

30

CLASSIFIED ADS

WWW.VINTAGEAIRCRAFT.ORG
FRONT COVER: I'll bet Martin and Osa Johnson would be thrilled to see the fi
Publisl,er
Eclltor-ill-CIIle(
Executive Director, Editor
VAA Adlllillistrative Assistallt
Executive Editor
COlltributillg Editors
Grapllic DesiSl,er
PltotograpllY Staff

TOM POBEREZNY

scon SPANGLER
HENRY G. FRAUTSCHY
THERESA BOOKS
MIKE DIFRISCO
JOHN UNDERWOOD
BUDD DAVISSON
OLIVIA L. PHILLIP
JIM KOEPNICK
LEEANN ABRAMS

Aclvertisillg/Eclitorial Assistallt ISABELLE WISKE

nal product of the late Buzz Kap lan's Born Again Restorations, their second
Sikorsky S-38 replica . EAA photo by Lee Ann Abrams, shot with a Canon EOSln
equipped with an 80-200 mm lens on 100 ASA Fuji slide film. EAA Cessna 210
photo plane flown by Bruce Moore.

BACK COVER: Bill Ellsworth has been a regular contributor to the EAA Sport
Aviation Art Competition, and this year's effort, awarded an Honorable Mention
ribbon is " Shake, Rattle , Roll , Pitch and Yaw," an 8xl0 inch etchi ng. Bill do
nates his artwork to EAA each year. One of the stairways in the EAA AirVenture
Museum is a gallery of his artwork, with 29 pieces of his handiwork on display.
Bill is a self-taught artist , and a retired Naval Aviator, a veteran of WW-II , Korea
and Vietnam during his 27 year career.

Be LE
BY ESPIE "BUTCH" JOYCE
PRESIDENT, VINTAGE ASSOCIATION

Prudent operations
A year of trial is now behind us,
and as we approach the holidays,
I'm keeping my thoughts positive
with regard to the challenges we've
faced as a nation and as an avia
tion community. In the immediate
days following September II, it
was hard to find a silver lining in
what seemed like the darkest cloud
we'd ever seen.
But thanks to the leadership
shown by EAA and many others,
most of us were able to get back in
the air. Unfortunately, more often
than not, politics seem to be dic
tating the "requirement" for
temporary flight restrictions
(TFRs), many of which still ad
versely affect many of our fellow
members. Included in that group
are those who fly banner towing
aircraft or the dedicated folks who
fly out of airports like College
Park, near our nation's capital,
who have to deal with overreach
ing restrictions regarding their
operations. The FBOs at fields like
these are suffering as well. If
you've ever wondered what bene
fit being a part of EAA is to the
Vintage Aircraft Association, the
work being done on all of our be
half by the Government Programs
staff, including EAA's outstanding
Washington representative, Doug
Macnair, has proven it's worth a
hundredfold. Without their rea
soned input to the government's
decision makers, it is certain that
we'd be operating within a much
more restricted set of rules.
Having said that, it's really
important that each of us un
derstands the current set of
NOTAMs and gets used to con
tacting FSS before flying to ensure

nothing new has popped up. The

Internet is fantastic for this pur
pose, and a great place to start is
EAA's Flight Planner. Go to
www.vintageaircraft.org and you'll see
an icon to access this great members
only benefit. Combined with a
DUATs briefing, your call to FSS can
be pretty short. Think of it as a good
excuse to refresh your flying habits.
The FAA is under great political
pressure to clamp down on air
space Violators-just ask anyone
who has wandered into the pro
hibited area above Camp David, or
the TFR over the president's ranch
in Texas. It's bad enough for those
involved, but it affects each of us.
Everyone of these publicized inci
dents doesn't help us be seen in a
positive light by government offi
cials or the general public. Be
assured that EAA, the VAA, and
other organizations are doing their
best to keep us in the air with as
few restrictions as possible. We
need your prudent aircraft opera
tion to keep the airways calm and
navigable. It really is a time for us
to pull in the same direction, and
for the most part, I think we're do
ing it well. Let's not let up!
Many of you have seen our "Free
Skies. Forever." bumper sticker.
That's not just a catchy slogan; it's
intended to send a message that
we, as a family, won 't give up our
right to fly without a fight. The
EAA family is not just the great
staff at headquarters-it's all of us,
members together with a common
bond, a purpose that guides us. At
EAA AirVenture this year I saw the
record attendance and enthusiasm
of the VAA members, and it made
me proud to be one of you.

There was a new appreciation for

the fact that we do have this free
dom of flight, and that it really
could be taken from us at any mo
ment. It's unfortunate, but I know
that there are a few individuals who
have decided to sell their aircraft
beca use of wha t has taken place
during the past year. Most likely,
these people were casual users of
aviation. The dedicated aviation
people seem to be sticking with avi
ation; in fact, they have become
more dedicated to the movement.
Your membership in the Vintage
Aircraft Association shows you to
be a dedicated aviation individual.
You have demonstrated this by
making an effort to belong to a
group of individuals who share
your common interest in aviation.
It continues to make me proud to
be able to serve this membership
as an officer and to help further
our collective interests. As a mem
ber there 's certainly something
you can do. Do you know some
one who feels the way you do
about vintage airplanes? Ask him
or her to become a VAA member,
and be sure to continue to renew
your membership. You only need
to look at the beautiful restored
aircraft in this issue of Vintage Air
plan e to see the dedication I am
writing about.
Let all of us pull in the same di
rection for the good of aviation.
Remember, we are better together.
Join us and have it all.
-Butch ....
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

VAA NEWS

COMPILED BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

EAA, COPA SEEK SFAS

FOR CANADIAN OWNER
MAINTAINED AIRCRAFT
EAA and the Canadian Owners
and Pilots Association (COPA) offi
cially appealed an FAA decision
issued on July 26 denying Special
Flight Authorizations (SFAs) for
Canadian aircraft certificated in the
Owner-Maintenance (O-M) cate
gory. The 33-page appeal, with a
cover letter signed by EAA President
Tom Poberezny and COPA President
Kevin Psutka, was delivered to FAA
Director of Flight Standards James
Ballough on August 20.
FAA Manager of Aircraft Mainte
nance David Cann denied the SFAs
because he said regulations covering
Canadian owner-maintenance air
craft were not on par with those
covering the U.S. amateur-built cate
gory of airplanes.
EAA and COPA argue that the
Canadian owner-maintenance cate
gory operates under similar
regulations as Canadian amateur
built aircraft and has an equal level
of flight safety. Canadian amateur
built aircraft have operated safely for
20 years under FAA-approved SFAs.
EAA and COPA provided the fol
lowing detailed support for their
position:
The COPA Guide to the Owner
Maintenance Category, showing
the history of the Canadian
owner-maintained category and
which aircraft are permitted to
apply for this certification.
EAA/COPA AFS 300 Letter Fact
Sheet, which corrects errors in
fact stated in Cann's denial of
SFAs.
EAA/COPA Like Aircraft Comparison
Table, comparing U.S. Canadian
regulations for various aircraft cat
egories.
Sample U.S. SFA Owner-Mainte
nance Operating Limitations,
2

OCTOBER

2002

showing reasonable U.S. operat

ing limitations that could be
issued to Canadian O-M aircraft.
COPA and EAA initially asked the
FAA and TC to look at these aircraft
for border-crossing authorization
back in 2000. It is hoped that the
n ew appeal results in a new border
crossing SFA for the Ca nadian O-M
aircraft. Until then, Canadian O-M
aircraft are not permitted to fly in
the United States. For more informa
tion , visit the CO PA website at
www.copanational.org/non-members/index.htm.

EAA CHAPTER WEB AREA

REDESIGNED!

Over the past few months EAA

staffers have been working on re
designing the Chapters area on the
EAA website. It now has a whole
new look and has been reorgan
ized to better meet your needs.
New information has been added
as well as updates to existing infor
mation. If you're looking for great
ideas on how to enhance your
Chapter's activities or fly-ins, the
Chapters section of www.eaa.org
is a great place to look! Go to the
web and check it out at

www.eaa.org/chapters/default.asp.

FLIGHT ADVISORS/
TECHNICAL COUNSELORS
SEARCHES AGAIN
AVAILABLE
After some careful retooling ,
the EAA Flight Advisor and Tech
nical Counselor look-up pages are
better than ever and back online
at the EAA members-only website:

expertise with aircraft builders .

Technical Counselors are part of
the "members-helping-members"
tradition of EAA. They advise
builders on constructing a safe, air
worthy aircraft for final FAA
inspection. These volunteers visit
projects and advise builders on how
to comply with building instruc
tions and federal regulatiOns.
Technical Counselors offer tips
based on their experience and help
builders avoid costly mistakes.
Through Technical Counselors, EAA
helps maintain the excellent reputa
tion of the amateur-built program.
More than 500 Flight Advisors are
EAA member-volunteers who can
help yo u evaluate your own flying
skills. If you need more instruction
in a certain type of airplane, a Flight
Advisor can help you find it. If you
choose to have a test pilot fly your
airplane instead, a Fligh t Advisor
can help you find and evaluate other
pilots. Flight Advisors also have ac
cess to EAA resources to assist you.
The site uses current databases of
active Tech Counselors and Flight
Advisors, and both are fully func
tional with the latest Netscape and
Microsoft Internet Explorer browser
software. If you need a Flight Advi
sor or Tech Counselor, this is the
place to go. You may also contact
the EAA Safety Programs adminis
trator at 920-426-6864 or at
safetyprograms@eaa.org if you need
further assistance.

http://members.eaa.org.

TAKE THE MYSTERY OUT OF

TIG WELDING AT THIS FALL'S
EAA SPORTAIR WORKSHOPS

You can now search a database of

more than 1,100 EAA Tech Coun
selors by regions as well as by states
using the same regional boundaries
as the FAA. An EAA Technical Coun
selor is an experienced volunteer
advisor who shares knowledge and

TIG welding is rapidly becoming

the preferred method of welding for
aircraft builders, but this new tech
nology demands knowledge and
proper technique to be safe and ef
fective. With concentrated weekend
courses to help builders learn and

Franklin Engine

Airworthiness Directive

Emergency Airworthiness Direc

tive 2002-18-51, grounding aircraft
equipped with Franklin 6A-350_and
6A-0350-C1A, Cll, C2, and C2A as
well as 4A-235-___ that have di
aphragm-type fuel pumps model
number AC4886 (AC P/N 5656774,
PZl P/N 26.11.1710), has been is
sued by the FAA. PZl states in its
mandatory bulletin PZL.F71/2002
that a new fuel pump design is being
certified, but that until the new
pumps are installed, all aircraft with
the affected engines installed are
grounded. The bulletin states the
new pump was to be certified in Sep
tember of 2002, with production to
follow. No time frame for deliveries
was mentioned. The AD does not ap
ply to any aircraft equipped with
gravity-feed fuel systems.
For more information, you can ac
cess the AD at www.faa.gov. Under
"Regulatory/Advisory," click on "Air
worthiness Directives" and enter the
AD number. You can also call Rich
Woldan at the FAA Engine Certifica
tion office, 781-238-7136.

use TIG welding on their aviation

projects, EAA's SportAir Workshops
and Lincoln Electric have teamed
up for courses on November 8-10
and December 6-8 at the state-of
the-art Alexander Technical Center
in Griffin, Georgia. The two-and-a
half-day courses allow participants
to learn the basics and safely
weld 4130 chromoly tubing and
aluminum. Lincoln Electric's profes
sional instructors and small class
sizes allow individual attention and
hands-on training in this important
aircraft building technique.
TIG welding, also known as gas
tungsten arc welding, creates supe
rior quality welds with precise
control of heat and other variables.
The technique is becoming more
popular because it allows beginning
welders to progress more rapidly
than in traditional gas welding. Stu
dents from beginners to experienced
aviation technicians and mechanics

will gain valuable experience in

these sessions.
Each class is limited to 12 stu
dents. Registration fees are $349 for
EAA members and $379 for non
members. More information and
registration materials are available
by calling 800-967-5746 or visiting
the EAA SportAir Workshop website
at www.sportair.com.

RADIO ARTICLES NEEDED

Have you successfully installed a
radio (handheld or panel mount) and

an external antenna in your vintage

airplane? One of the most common
questions we field here at EAA head
quarters concerns the installation of
radios in airplanes with and without
shielded ignition systems. If you've
had success with either type of in
stallation in an airplane with or
without an electrical system, we'd
like to hear from you. Drop us a note
at vintage@eaa.org or call the VAA at
920-426-4825. Help out your fellow
VAA members, and add to our collec
tive knowledge base.

BOOK NOTES

A couple of inter

Many of us have heard of this book in

esting books have

our aviation history books , but few of us

come across the

have ever seen a copy of it, particu larly in

Vintage Airplane ed

English. Birdflight as the Basis of Aviation

itor's desk recently.

by Otto Lilienthal is an intriguing book, filled

Unlocking the Sky:

with more than 100 drawings, graphs , and

Glenn Hammond

diagrams showing how Lilienthal came to

Curtiss and the

his understanding of flight in the 1890s .

Race to Invent the

Unlike so many other bird watchers, Lilien

Lj".,------'-'

thal , with assistance from hi s brother

esting look at one of aviation's true

Gustave, studied the detai ls of how birds

pioneers, whose mechanical ingenuity and

fly. They learned precisely what a bird does

tenacity saw him through the turbulent and

with its wings-how it alters dihedral to

litigious early days of the aviation industry.

change stability and how it varies the curva

His difficulties with the Wright brothers are

ture to change lift and drag in various flight

reviewed in depth, as well as his collabora

situations . The book published now is a du

Airplane is an inter-

tion with Alexander Graham Bell, and his

plicate of the first edition published in

unfortunate business dealings with Augus

1889 , and while it certainly should not be

tus Herring. Written by Seth Shulman, it is a

considered a modern-day "how-to " book, it

fascinating account of the first half of the

gives the aviation enthusiast a new per

career of one of America's most gifted self

spective on what early aviators knew .

taught engineers. Shulman is not a pilot,

Anyone serious about aviation (and quite a

and there are a couple of factual errors that

few who never did understand the problem!)

slipped in . (For instance, contrary to a state

in the 1890s and early 1900s read this

ment in the book , both Wright brothers

book, and now you can, too. Published by

completed four years of high school-Wilbur

the American

didn 't get his diploma when Bishop Wright

Aeronautical

moved the family from Richmond, Indiana,

Archives , an

to Dayton during the last days of his senior

imprint of

year. Later, Shulman misinterprets the func

Markowski

tion of an aileron.) None of the " non-pilot"

International

errors detract greatly from the account, and

Publishers, its

it still proved to be fascinating reading. Pub

ISBN is 0

lished by HarperCollins , Unlocking the Sky:

938716-58-1.

Glenn Hammond Curtiss and the Race to In

The publisher

vent the Airplane is listed as ISBN:

can be reached

0-06-019633-5 .

at 717-566-0468.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Maybe You Shouldn't ...

FROM FAA PUBLICATION AM-400-92/l

a>

commonly held belief is

that medicine cures all that
ails. Whether medicine is
prescribed by a doctor or is an
over-the-counter medication
(OTC) that you have selected, as a
pilot you must consider the effect
it will have on your performance.
When you are given a prescrip
tion, your doctor explains the
possible side-effects of the medica
tion you are about to take. Your
pharmacist also outlines them
when filling the prescription.
However, when you treat yourself
with a nonprescription medication,
you become your own doctor and
pharmacist. Therefore, you must in
form yourself of the possible adverse
reactions that you might encounter.
The following will help you under
stand some of the basics that you
will need to successfully accomplish
this task.
OTCs are any legal, nonprescrip
tion substance taken for the relief of
discomforting symptoms. This sub
stance may be in the form of
capsules, tablets, powders, or liquids.
When you are not feeling well,
your best action is to ground your
self and wait until you have
recovered before resuming your pi
lot duties. There may be times,
however, when you feel that you
must fly and will be tempted to
doctor yourself with OTCs . At
these times it is good to remember
that the OTCs only hide your
symptoms for a while. They do not

OCTOBER 2002

usually "cure" the condition, and

you will not be at peak physical
performance while you fly.
There are two main areas of con
cern about unwanted reactions to
medications.
. Allergy is a rare and unpre
dictable reaction to a substance.
If you know that you are allergic
to something, you should care
fully read the list of ingredients
of any OTC to assure that none
of the substance is included in its
formulation .
Possible unexpected side-effects
can take many forms, including
drowsiness, impairment of judg
ment, upset stomach or bowels,
disturbance of vision, or even itch
ing . Any of these could cause an
impairment that might lead to inca
pacitation while flying.
Decongestants and caffeine
(contained in coffee, tea, cola,
chocolate) are both strong stimu
lants in some individuals. Mixed
together, they can make you "hy
peractive." Note also that some
cough syrups contain a deconges
tant.

SUMMARY ADVICE
READ and follow label direc
tions for use of medication.
If the label warns of side-effects,
do not fly until twice the recom
mended dosing interval has
passed. SO, if the label says, "take
every 4-6 hours," then wait at least
12 hours to fly.

Remember that the condition you are treating may

be as disqualifying as the medication.
When in doubt, ask your physician or Aviation
Medical Examiner for advice.

us. Department of Transportation

federal AvIatIon AdmInIstratIon

As a pilot, you are responsible for your own per

sonal"pre-flight." Be wary of any illness that requires
medicine to make you feel better.
If an illness is serious enough to require medica
tion, it is also serious enough to prevent you from
flying.
Do not fly if you have a cold -changes in atmos
pheric pressures with changes in altitude could cause
serious ear and sinus problems.
Avoid mixing decongestants and caffeine.

Beware of medications that use alcohol as a base for

the ingredients.
The above article can be found at
http://www.cami.jccbi.gov/AAM-400A/400aotc.html.
At this site you will also find a list of common
OTCs listing the type/name of the medication, side
effects of the medication, and interactions the OTC
may have with other medications. We have not in
cluded the current chart due to the fact that the
FAA will be revising the medications brochure to
include information about newer pharmaceutical
products. They plan to publish a new brochure later
this year. You can view this revised chart at the
above website as well.
.......

MIKE'S
HANGAR
is "Practicing
a Tradition"
We provide the following services:

..

MAYBE YOU SHOULDN'T...

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Paint and Fabric
Metalforming
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e-mail: mike@mikeshangar.com

Visit the Website: www.mikeshangar.com

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

John Miller Recalls ...

The
of old instruments
JOHN M. MILLER
Many years ago in aviation, be
fore World War II, few airplanes had
electrical systems. After the air regu
lations came into effect in 1927,
requiring position lights for night
flying, airplanes had position lights
installed, but to use them a battery
had to be installed temporarily for
the flight proposed. Since night
cross-country flying was so rare,
some pilots would use one of the
Hotshot 6-volt pack batteries to
power the position lights, but they
would turn them on only when near
an airport to conserve the battery.
Otherwise an automobile or motor
cycle battery would be used, and
then recharged later on the ground.
Regulations were lax.
Panel instrument lights were not
used because they would soon de
plete such a battery. Therefore, the
instruments had glowing radiant di
als and pointers. When flying in the
dark, the instruments were clearly
visible, but the pilot's eyes were not
affected as they are by the bright
electric instrument lights of today, so
pilot's night vision was not affected.
The gentle glow of the dials did not
reduce outside vision noticeably.
In 1930 I was instructing flight
students at Teterboro, and a young
lady came to me wishing to learn to
fly. She said that she had a terminal
case of leukemia and wanted to fly
before she died. She said further that
the leukemia was caused by the fact
that for several years she had worked
in a factory that painted the glowing
material on dials of aircraft instru
ments and wristwatches. In the
process of hand painting the num6

OCTOBER 2002

bers a tiny artist's brush was used.

The painters sharply pointed the
brushes by moistening them be
tween their lips hundreds or even
thousands of times per day, month
after month. All of the girls came
down with leukemia.

She said that

she had a tenninal

case of leukemia

and wanted to fly

before she died.

The paint used for the purpose

consisted of a zinc compound that
was activated to glow by a very tiny
bit of radium mixed into it, a really
tiny amount. If you can still find
one of those old glowing dial instru
ments or an old wristwatch, in the
dark take a magnifying glass close to
it and you can see many tiny flash
ing sparks. The radium is energizing
the zinc with practically everlasting
energy. It takes only a few molecules
of the radium, mixed into a huge
amount of the zinc compound, to
make it glow.
Of course, the girls were concen
trating the effect of the radium on
their lips, with fatal results, without
realizing it. I do not believe that the
manufacturer knew it either, until
the girls became ill. Not that much
was known about radium at that
time. By over reaction, typical of
lawmakers, the use of radium-acti
vated instrument dials and watches
was outlawed entirely and arbitrar

ily. No consideration was given to

the fact that no one had ever ac
quired any detrimental effect from
looking at radium aircraft instru
ments during thousands of hours of
flying or from wearing radiant dial
wristwatches 24 hours per day for
much more than 50 years, until they
were no longer available. That must
be why I am in such bad shape at al
most 95! I flew thousands of hours
with the entire panel covered by ra
diant-glowing instruments.
Also, apparently no consideration
was given to the fact that the paint
ing of the dials could have been done
by remote or automatic machinery,
with no one being nearby. The han
dling of the radium and paint could
now be done by computer control.
Recently, when returning from a
night cross-country flight, I was on
final approach for landing with trees
not far from each wingtip and close
below me. The instrument lights
failed suddenly due to a failure of an
electronic control. The lights had
been turned down to dim, but my
eyes did not readjust quickly to the
darkness. However, there were visual
glideslope lights on the runway, and
I was able to continue the approach
to land safely while not able to read
the airspeed indicator. I could have
read the old glowing instruments
clearly. I miss those old instruments.
It seems to me that in this age of
computer-controlled robot machin
ery their manufacture could be
revived. The radiant instrument
numbers are of no danger to the pi
lot. The above incident inspired me
to write this article.
.....

BY

H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

mailplanes for the Post Office De

partment. The aeroplane used was
not a Curtiss, but the Standard J. It
was given engineering Model Num
ber L-411-1 but was overlooked on
the 1935 redesignation list.
"Other than the conversion of the
front cockpit to a mail pit and the in
stallation of a 160 hp Curtiss C-6
engine, the major change to the Stan
dard was the fitting of entirely new
wings. These were shorter than the 44
feet, 10 inch (13.66 meter) of the
Standard, were of equal span, with
With a wingspan of 33 feet, and a length of nearly 27 feet, the Curtiss Night
only one bay of struts, and used the
Mall was powered by a Curtiss C-6 engine, giving it a cruising speed of 85 mph.
new thick-section USA-27 aerofoil.
"Approximately six were deliv
The July Mystery Plane was a
Pete Bowers supplied us with the ered, and at least one was used by
toughie, but George Alleman, Plac photo we used. Pete referred us to the Post Office as a two-cockpit
his write-up in the Curtiss book he utility aircraft rather than a single
erville, California, got it right:
I believe the July Mystery Plane wrote for the Putnam series of avia seat mailplane."
is a Curtiss Night Mail of about tion history books, which was
1923. Powered by a 160 hp Curtiss published by the Naval Institute
Robert Ramey of Coopertown,
C-6 engine. Used as transportation
Press (ISBN 0-87021-152-8).
North Dakota, sent us a reply that
to repair beacons. Photo probably
"The Curtiss Night Mail of 1922 was pretty close, guessing it was a
taken at Hadley Field, New Jersey, was a quick attempt at adapting ex Standard]-1. Our thanks to those of
isting war-surplus aircraft to low-cost you who sent in replies.
about 1926.
......
THIS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US VIA
THE COLLECTION OF ILLUSTRATOR BOB O'HARA,
GEORGETOWN, CALIFORNIA.

SEND YOUR ANSWER TO:

AIRPLANE, P.O. Box

54903-3086.

3086,

EAA, VINTAGE
OSHKOSH,

WI

YOUR ANSWER NEEDS TO

BE IN NO LATER THAN NOVEMBER 15 FOR

INCLUSION IN THE JANUARY

2003

ISSUE

OF VINTAGE AIRPLANE.
You CAN ALSO SEND YOUR RESPONSE
VIA E-MAIL. SEND YOUR ANSWER TO

vintage@eaa.org .
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Cecil Hess

AND HIS AIRPLANE

Miss Fortune's previous owner was a colorful character

As originally published in the May/June 2002 issue of Waco World News,
the official publication of the American Waco Club.
BOB HOWIE

Cecil Hess was born

in 1902 and came
to Reedsburg,
Wisconsin, in 1920,
finishing high
school shortly there
after. He followed up
with flying lessons
in a Curtiss Jenny.
Cecil was a machin
ist and mechanic
and attended the
Sweeney Automobile
and Aviation School
in Kansas City.
Cecil worked nine
years for others as a
mechanic until he
bought his own
shop in Reedsburg in
1931. During this
time he continued
flying, deciding to
buy his own airplane
in 1928. He chose an
ox-s powered Waco
Model Ten.
8

OCTOBER 2002

The Waco Ten, serial number

1214, was completed by Advance
Aircraft Co. on November 12, 1927,
and was delivered by rail to John P.
Wood's Northern Airways at Wausau,
Wisconsin, on January 5,1928. John
Wood was a well-known Advance
Aircraft Co. dealer who went on to
win the 1928 Ford Air Tour with his
modified Waco Taperwing.
Cecil purchased the plane from
Northern Airways in March 1928 for
$2,500. The Waco was assigned iden
tification number 4779. After some
familiarization with the airplane
and completing the paperwork on
April 20, Cecil flew his new Waco
Ten home to Reedsburg on April 27.
The Reedsburg Free Press reported that
he covered the 115 miles from
Wausau to Reedsburg in 50 minutes,
apparently taking advantage of what
must have been about a 65 mph tail
wind. Cecil and his Waco Ten pro
vided real encouragement to the
local people who were promoting a
Reedsburg airport when he built a
hangar on land recently obtained by
the city for an airport. Cecil pro
ceeded to fly around the countryside
barnstorming and doing air shows,
landing in farmers' fields and carry
ing passengers for rates of a penny a
pound (up to $2.50) to $10, depend
ing on the crowds. Later in 1928
Cecil broke a wing and propeller be
cause of a "bad landing."
In August 1928 John Wood sold
Northwest Airways its first Waco,
the Wright J-4 powered Model Ten,
number C7446. The Northwest Air

ways route map showed the Reeds

burg Public Field just north of the
Madison-La Crosse leg of the
Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul route.
Charles "Speed" Holman, North
west's operating manager and a
contemporary of Cecil's, flew North
west's Waco Ten C7446, first as a
straightwing and later as a taper
wing, through the Reedsburg area.
Cecil later recollected how during
his barnstorming and air show times
he flew with Speed Holman and
other noted area fliers.
During an air show at Reedsburg
in early July 1930, misfortune was
present. A young aviatrix riding the
wing of Cecil's Waco hundreds of
feet above the ground stepped into
the slipstream, leaving behind her
the clatter of the OX-5. She expected
to thrill the crowd with her gentle
descent to the ground, but her para
chute did not open. The girl was
19-year-old Mae Rox, who billed
herself as "Peaches La Mar." Cecil,
obviously through respectful re
membrance, determined that ever
after his Waco Ten would be named
the gently appropriate, but curiously
enigmatic Miss Fortune.
Early on, Cecil decided that he
did not need to bother with mun
dane matters such as pilot
certificates and aircraft licenses or
the related baggage such as log
books and inspections. He was a
qualified mechanic and knew his
airplane and how to fly it. The
Waco had an ID number, 4779,
from the government. What else

was needed? Besides, he had been

protected by the" grandfather act."
Cecil, unencumbered by regulatory
inconvenience, continued to fly
Miss Fortune, by his accounts put
ting about 450 hours on her
through the mid to late 1950s.
Our modern world eventually
caught up to Cecil. After rebuilding
the Waco in 1959, he continued to
fly her. The old Waco had never re
ceived an airworthiness certificate,
and Cecil somewhat innocently
made an application for registration
of the airplane in 1962. But, as Cecil
lamented to a newspaper reporter in
1964, "They wanted me to comply
with all the new regulations, regiS
tration, flyer's license, log books, air
frame certification, etc." So he liter
ally "hung it up," dismantling the
Waco, hanging the fuselage in his
shop and putting the wings in stor
age at home.
Fifteen years later, Cecil decided
to reassemble and fly Miss Fortune af
ter 50 years of ownership. He was
convinced it was a feat worthy of
the Guinness World Records and
that the "grandfather act" made
him bulletproof. On March 30,
1978, the Reedsburg newspaper pub
lished an interview with Cecil
wherein he announced his inten

tions to again fly Miss Fortune in

cluding that he could" coax a few
more barrel rolls out of her." OnJuly
23, 1978, 50 summers after purchas
ing the Waco Ten from John Wood,
Cecil took her to the air again over
Reedsburg. If this made the Guin
ness book is not known , nor is it
known how many barrel rolls he
coaxed out of her, but certainly an
undeserved anonymity was protect
inghim.
But as they say, too much of a
good thing... two months later, on

September 19, Cecil again pulled the

propeller through, climbed into the
cockpit, pushed the throttle for
ward, and rolled across the field .
Miss Fortune skidded out of control
and went up an embankment and
into some trees, knocking off the
propeller and busting a wing. Some
how, this caught the attention of
those guys that Skeezix calls "The
Federals Against Aviation" and what
John Livesay would say is just a nor
mal day at an out-of-the-way grass
strip, and it was now a federal affair.

Kris Kortokrax levels out the Waco Ten for a "high speed " pass down the
grass runway at Shelbyville, Illinois.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Tapockata, tapockata , tapockata ... Now before you pick up your pen to scold us for publishing a picture of an air
plane with no brakes, no chocks, and with the engine running and no one in the cockpit, I've been assured that
Kris is In the cockpit , hunched over to stay out of sight. Honest!

Cecil was in trouble with the local

judge, who threatened Cecil with
jail time if he did not mend his ways.
The judge felt he could t ell a
threat to society when he saw one .
Cecil had accumulated 2,000 hours
flying time over 60 years but did not
have a pilot certificate; he had put
450 hours on a Waco Ten that he
had owned and maintained for 50
years but did not have a 3- by 5-inch
piece of paper called a standard air
worthiness certificate. Cecil never
flew again and died a year or so later,
truly a misfortune.
Cecil 's earlier lamentations indi
cate that logbooks for 4779 never
existed, and the FAA file for 4779 is
thin, which tends to confirm this .
The file has only five or so basic doc
uments in it, all dated 1928,
including bills of sale from Advance
Aircraft Co. to Northern Airways
and Northern's sale to Cecil Hess, as
well as an application for identifica
tion number and license . In
addition, the file contains Unli
censed Identification Assignments
from 1930, 1935, 1936, 1937, and
1938, which now carry the notation
10

OCTOBER

2002

"Intentional Aero
batics Prohibited "
which obviously,
by Cecil 's creative
reading , did not
preclude "coaxing
a few more barrel
rolls out of her."
Following his
rebuilding the air
plane in 1959,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
there is no men
~
tion of the work in
the FAA file , but
there is a 1962 " Ap- The current owner of Miss Fortune, Bob Howie.
plication
for
Registration" and a 1972 revocation intending for it to be displayed in
of registration letter from the FAA its original condition as rebuilt by
Cecil in 1959. Miss Fortune in such
with a 1981 reinstatement note.
Dick Wagner, a friend of Cecil's, unembellished state would have
requested the registration rein provided a rare window to avia
statement . Dick had worked with tion of the late 1920s. Cecil's 1959
Cecil before Cecil died to assure rebuild was basic, consisting only
that Miss Fortun e would be prop of re-covering and mechanically
e rl y preserved. Dick Wagner was refurbishing the Waco. Every
the head of the Wagner Founda thing was left as it came from the
tion , and the Foundation later Advanc e Aircraft Co . factory in
purchased the Waco Ten from the Troy, Ohio, in November 1927
estate of Cecil Hess and delivered (that is, tailskid, wire wheels with
it to the EAA AirVenture Museum, no brakes, height gauge, water

The OX-5's radiator is mounted on the bottom of the wing center section.
You 'll know right away if you have a leak!

temperature, oil pressure, and no

airspeed or compass) and this was
all topped off with the original
Curtiss OX-5 with no fancy mod
ernizations like Millerized valves
or dual magneto conversion. Cecil
skillfully concealed the Narco Su
perhomer and its antenna on the
shelf in his garage. Even the 1927
carbon steel streamlined wires

still had the original stamped

brass MacWhyte identification
tags wrapped around them.
At some point in time, Ceci l
conceded to the necessity of the
moment and replaced the 18-inch
clincher wheel rims and tires with
18-inch drop center rims with his
personalized welded spoke hole re
inforcements and automobile tires,

probably because clincher tires

were no longe r available. The
clincher wheels Advance Aircraft
Co. used on the Waco Nine and
Ten were Curtiss Jenny "war to end
all wars" surplus parts. During the
1920s, surplus Jenny hardware in
cluding wheels, nuts, bolts ,
turnbuckles, and cable was the in
dustry standard for lightplane
hardware.
Ultimately, it was in 1991 that
the Wagner Foundation faithfully
replicated Cecil's 1959 rebuild, tak
ing Cec il's Waco Ten back to its
first years at Reedsburg, flying the
Wisconsin air show circuit and
barnstorming as Miss Fortune,
thereby preserving an otherwise ir
replaceable part of aviation history.
Since then, Cecil's Miss Fortune
has moved from WisconSin, and
its OX-5 is now clattering away
from the Public Field at Shel
byville, Illinois, crossing paths
with Speed Holman's Taperwing
Waco 7446 that flies from the same
summer grass and winter snow at
Shelby County Airport.
The Waco Ten with the OX-5,
tailskid and no brakes, is a fun fly
ing airplane. Ground handling on
the grass is simple and effective us
ing rudder, elevator, and throttle
for directional control. Paved sur
faces can be exciting. Ground static
rpm with the 104-inch propeller is
1375 rpm. Takeoff with little effort
easily meets and can readily ex
ceed 1400 rpm, which provides a
comfortable rate of climb. Aviation
magazines from the 1920s and
1930s indicate that the OX-5 en
gine operated well at the higher
speeds, with classified ads com
monly bragging of engines that
would turn 1500 to 1600 rpm.
Comfortable cruise is 1350 rpm,
which provides very good control
response and a ride that is solid. At
1250 rpm the ride is getting softer
and control response slower. None
of this matters much, since in any
event, yo u won't get where you
want very soon!
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

11

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2002

The VAA area was the place to be!

H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

It was EAA's 50th convention, kicking off a yearlong golden celebration of 50 years of EAA. We've been a part of it as an organi
zation since 1971, and well before that, EAA members who loved old airplanes brought them to Milwaukee and Rockford for the
annual get-together. The 2002 edition of the members' convention offered plenty of familiar sights and sounds, as well as a few
new wrinkles. Let's take a look at the airplanes, people, and places that made the VAA area one of the most visited locations of
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh.

Vernon Vick of Dublin, Ohio, shown here with his dog, Selene, restored the Grand Champion Antique Stearman.
We'll have a larger pictorial article in a future issue.
Herb Clark's Reserve
Grand Champion
Stearman is an ex
crop duster, but It
sure doesn't look
like one now-it ' s
very sharp, and it's
certain the judges
were hard-pressed
to decide the top air
plane this year.
Herb Clark is from
Weirsdale, Florida.

12

OCTOBER

2002

Congratulations to
both Vernon and
Herb.

AIHVENTUHE

V';}j}{V';;J ,(- :d!J!J:d

VAA volunteer Michael Wortherspoon of Barrie, Ontario, Canada, brought his 1966

Cessna 150F dubbed Birdie to the States, and he took home the Contemporary

Outstanding In Type-Cessna 150 plaque for his neatly maintained airplane.

Thanks to the folks at Pro Motorsports In Fond du Lac, Wisconsin, the VAA Flight Line Safety and Parking volun
teers can get to their marshaling posts quickly and then can safely guide the many showplanes to their spots. This
handsome crowd of 11 bikers Is just a fraction of the dozens of volunteers who risk a touch of sunburn to help out
during the weeklong event.
(/)

..'~"
z
z

~ Larry Beck's Younkin D to a

G conversion Beechcraft
can certainly turn heads,
especially In flight, since
It's so fast! It was the An
tique Champion Customized
Aircraft.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

13

to become a cult air

plane-just you see.
During 2001, at the
Mooney Aircraft Pilots
Association ' s annual
event in Las Vegas, Ger
ald Turney of Oakland,
California, was tickled
that his Mooney M20C
was picked as the Best
in Series. EAA added to
the list, with the airplane being selected as the Con
temporary Custom Class II Single Engine (161-230
hp) award winner.

14

OCTOBER 2002

5r .
AIRVENTURE
V5HJ[V5H

A-

~!J!J~

Jim Moss (inset) built

and now flies this su
perlative Laird Super
Solution , which was
chosen as the Grand
Champion Replica An
tique. Standing behind
the airplane and look
ing forward gives you a
whole new apprecia
tion for the term " blind
flying. " Jim flies cross
country In a series of
gentle S-turns to clear
the area directly In
front of him as he rock
ets along.

It ' s hard to believe when you

look at it, but this outstanding
example of a Cessna 172 is 37
years old. It has been expertly
restored to its delivery condi
tion , and it ' s jointly owned by
Steve and Robert Koshar of
Coloma , Michigan. It was the
Grand Champion Contemporary
winner during EAA AirVenture
2000. More than 20 past cham
pion aircraft returned to this
year ' s event , and they were
parked in places of honor along
the flight line.

iIil.III

Dave Thomas puts a little

body English into his di
rections for one of the
more than 1 ,000 show
planes that parked on the
south end of Wittman
field. Dave ' s one of the
co-chairmen of the VAA
Parking and Safety Com
mittee.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

15

Richard Weeden's Rearwin Sportster restoration has been on the list of

"much anticipated" rebuilds for a few years, and it turned out to be very
pretty. Dick is from Brodhead, Wisconsin.

The top of the awards list in the

Contemporary category was this
fine-looking 1960 Cessna 3100
painted to represent the very last
Songbird flown by Sky King in the
old television series of the same
name. Paul Erickson of Novato, Cali
fornia, brought the tip-tanked
speedster to the convention, where
it was awarded the Contemporary
Grand Champion Lindy.
16

OCTOBER 2002

Eric and Deb Presten and their two young boys were in the
middle of a coast-to-coast adventure with their amphibious
Piper PA-16S Clipper. Eric 's PA-16 has been an integral part of
his business as Presten 's Aero Photography, and the new paint
job on the PA-16S really puts the finishing touch on a unique
airplane. Upon leaving EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, the Prestens
were heading down the length of the Mississippi River before
turning left toward the East Coast and then a hopscotch run to
their home north of the San Francisco Bay area.

The VAA sponsored and

staffed the Tall Pines Cafe, a
great place to meet for a
hearty pancake breakfast.
Our very first paying cus
~-'~' -1'- ......... tomer was Gary Assels (left),
the general manager for Canadian Home Rotors, maker of
the Safari helicopter. Gary's great meal was the first of more
than 2,500 breakfasts served during the week. The volun
teer effort that went into the Tall Pines Cafe was intense,
spearheaded by VAA Directors John Berndt and Steve Nesse,
as well as Clare Dahl (chief cook, right) , Craig Baumgardner
(center), and newly elected Director Dave Clark. Many other
familiar faces from the ranks of regular volunteers were also
seen behind the serving counters , including Gene Chase,
Dale Gustafson, Paul Kyle, and Phil Coulson.

Here's what the faces of a pair of real winners

look like! In addition to being long-term VAA volun
teers (they run the VAA button-making operation
each year) Dwayne and Sue Trovillion found out
they were the fortunate subscribers to an online
Continental engine customer care newsletter. The
company chose one subscriber at random to win a
new Continental engine of his or her choice, and
during EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, the Trovillions
were flabbergasted to learn they had been picked
as the winner. Congratulations-that ought to
make the family Bonanza really zip!

Jeff Montgomery and Ron Price own this Fleet I,

which is based at the Sonoma Skypark Airport. A
gaggle of antique and classic airplanes departed
Sonoma bound for Oshkosh, with overnight stops in
all sorts of interesting places like Brodhead, Wiscon
sin. They did pretty well after their arrival; the Fleet
was judged the Antique Silver Age Champion.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

17

CONTEMPORARY JUDGES Back Row: Jeff Anderson, Tim

Popp, Art Anderson, John Goodloe, Rick Duckworth. Front
Row: Tim Greene, Mary Knutson, Liz Popp, Jay Cavender,

Dick Knutson.

Ray Cook is from Spring Grove, Illinois,

and he's the lucky owner and pilot of this
1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D. Ray's Taylor
craft was picked as the Best Classic I
(0-80 hp) award winner.

Over the past few years we've noted a few more

Mexican-registered aircraft on display in our area.
This is the Classic-Best Navion award winner, flown
to the convention by owner Luis Olaguibel,

Tepozteco, Mexico.

ANTIQUE JUDGES Back Row: Bill Halverson, Jerry Brown, Gene Mor
ris, Charles Bell, Xen Motsinger, Mike Hoag, Dave Morrow. Front Row:
Don Coleman, Dave Clark, John Pipkin, Phil Coulson, Mike Shaver,
Steve Dawson, Dale Gustafson, Faye Gustafson.

Some members will go to astonishing lengths to get their favorite antique to the convention. Arngrimur Johannsson
happens to also own the airline Air Atlanta Icelandic. He's always wanted to attend EAA AirVenture, so he loaded
up the 747 with a Pitts and a Cub, plus a few hundred other EAAers and headed west to Oshkosh. (Okay, he did
write a few months ahead and asked for a parking spot.) Pulled from the cargo hold, Arngrimur's 1943 Piper L-4/J-3
was on display in the shadow of the Boeing behemoth that brought it to the States. It was selected as the Judges'
Choice antique award winner.
18

OCTOBER 2002

AIHI/ENTUHE
Rare as it can be, here's the
only 1935 Pasped Skylark Wi in
existence. It's been to the con
vention in the long ago past, but
a couple of generations have
never seen the airplane. A new
restoration by Tom Brown of
Unity, Wisconsin, has put It in
prime condition, right down to
its shallow windshield and the
acres of aluminum fashioned
into the wheel spats. Robert
"Buzz" Penny of Versailles, Mis
souri, now owns the Skylark. It
was the Bronze Age Champion.

Brad Larson (right) and his son ,

Glen, (center) win the unofficial
"Bet you don't see this every day"
award. This is the family Cessna
Airmaster, which has been a fixture
at many fly-ins throughout the
years. Now, they've mated the
Cessna with a pair of Wipline am
phibious floats, for more than twice
the fun. Charlie Harris (left), VAA
treasurer, had just completed a
video interview with the Larsons
when VAA volunteer photographer
Jack McCarthy snapped this shot.

The second of two Sikorsky S-38s built by the late Buzz Ka

plan's Born Again Restorations is now flying, owned by
Unlimited Adventures of Las Vegas, Nevada. Painted in the ze
bra stripes of Martin and Osa Johnson's Osa's Ark, it serves as
a fitting tribute to Buzz and his talented group of craftsman.

CLASSIC JUDGES Back Row: Steve Bender, Stan York, Dan Knutson, Frank
Bass , Jerry Gippnev, Rodney Roy. Front Row: John Womack, Clyde Bour
geois, Larry Keitel, Sky Bourgeois, Joan Steinberger, Dean Richardson,
Kevin Pratt, John Swander, Frank Moynahan.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

19

AIRVENTURE

The metal shaping tent just south

of the Red Barn was always hum
D.5 fJ j{ D.5 fJ ,( :d !J!J:d
ming with the noise of metal
hammers and the buzz of a con
stant stream of questions from the many folks who stopped by to
learn more about making metal conform to their wishes.
KEN GOOSELL

. >

:I:

U
rJl

>

::::l

e:

As emcee Charlie Harris looks on,

VAA President Butch Joyce presents
Paul Poberezny with a Pat Packard
painting depicting the first EAA fly-in
held at Milwaukee's Curtiss-Wright
Airport in 1953. The presentation on
behalf of the Division was made dur
ing the opening ceremonies for the
First Fly-In Flight Line display just
north of the VAA Red Barn.

James Hardie's all black Taylorcraft turned a few heads walking by on the
main drag of the flight line. It took home the Antique Outstanding Cus
tomized Aircraft award to Heber Springs, Arkansas.

EAA AirVenture attracts the rare airplanes-certainly Jim Thomas' Met

Co-Aire's conversion of the Piper Super Cruiser qualifies in that regard.
It gets the unofficial "I know I've seen it before, but I just can't place
the face " award.

1Qn<:a
The Hays family has been coming to
the convention for more than 30
years, and it always draws a crowd.
Their collection includes a Manley
Balzer rotary replica, just like the
one that powered Langley's 1903
Aerodrome, and a 1903 Wright
Flyer replica engine. Both were
built in the Hays' shops and were
run a couple of times a day in front
of appreciative crowds. Besides,
where else can you get the auto
graph of a prehistoric ornithopter's
wingwalker?
20

OCTOBER

2002

Jay Anding is from Bryan, Texas, and his Stearman is a Navy N2S1. It was
chosen as the Champion World War II Military Trainer/Liaison.

NORM PETERSEN

NORM PETERSEN

ith the word slowly leak

ing out that the annual
EAA Seaplane Fly-In at the
Vette Seaplane Base on the beautiful
shore of Lake Winnebago is one of
the most serene gatherings of water
borne aircraft and people who fly
them, 2002 was no exception in the
size of the visiting crowds and the
enthusiasm of the folks involved.
Blessed with excellent weather for
most of the seven days of the fly-in ,
the attendance this year rose to 116

registered seaplanes versus 107 last

year. Once again, the grounds and
facilities were in absolutely tiptop
shape, due to tireless work done by a
host of volunteers.
The fly-in actually began back on
Memorial Day weekend when some
forty volunteers assembled to get
the Vette Seaplane Base ready-only
to have it rain all day Saturday! How
ever, by Sunday, the sun had
returned and two full days of dili
gent work brought the grounds up

to a presentable position. All the

winter debris was hauled away, trees
were trimmed, brush was cleaned
out, campsites were all mowed,
docks were rebuilt and painted, in
side work was finished on the
buildings and most important, the
flower beds were all replanted under
the careful direction of Mary Beth
Jackson. The results of this weekend
of dedicated work really speak for
themselves.
To show how the influx of seaAbove: With the crowd looking on,
this nicely painted and polished
Cessna 172, N8425L, mounted on a
set of PK 2300 floats, and flown to
Oshkosh by Keith Pierson of Hibbing,
Minnesota, is towed from the dock
area to a waiting float.
Left: All dolled up in original factory
paint scheme is this Piper PA-11 Cub
SpeCial, N4962M, mounted on a set
of Edo 1320 floats and flown to
Oshkosh by Glenn Whitehouse of Bon
duel, Wisconsin. Gary Conger of Green
Bay, Wisconsin, owns this PA-11.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

21

Left: This Grumman G-44 Widgeon,

N62000 , was flown to Oshkosh by
owner James Rodgers of Middlebury,
~ lindiana. Nicknamed the Canadian
b Clipper, this Lycoming powered con
I
"
Z
version of the Widgeon will cruise with
UJ
a: the best and still haul a good load.
UJ
(/)

t;j
"
::;:
a:
o

Surrounded by algae, this neat Cessna

180, C-GEVY, mounted on a set of Edo
2960 floats, poses for its portrait at
the Vette Seaplane Base. Flown in by
Tim Haapamaki of Sudbury, Ontario,
Canada, the 180 hauled four people.

planes is different from many fly

ins, we have to look at the numbers
as the fly-in progresses. On Tuesday
morning, there were 24 seaplanes
registered. On Wednesday morning,
the number jumped to 48 registra
tions. By Thursday morning it was at
71 seaplanes and by Sunday morn
ing, there were 108 seaplanes on the
sign-in sheet. By Monday afternoon,
the total peaked to 116 seaplanes for
the entire fly-in. Approximately one
third of the total was Canadian
registered with the balance being
U.S. registered.
Perhaps this should be called the

year of the "Cub" as some 16

Piper J-3, PA-ll, PA-18 and PA
12 Super Cruisers were flown in
on floats. In addition, Eric
Presten from California brought
in his PA-16 Clipper on Murphy
amphib floats, a one-of-a-kind
seaplane. It was also fun to see
two Piaggio Trecker Royal Gulls this
year, a first for this gracefully de
signed
twin-engined
pusher
amphibian. A most unique antique
aircraft was Glenn Larson's Cessna
Airmaster 165 mounted on a set of
brand new Wipline amphibious floats
and flown in from the Minneapolis
area. The float installation on this
airplane was a most professional
piece of work done at Wipline's shop
in Inver Grove Heights, Minnesota.
Besides a large number of sea
plane rides that were given during
the week, visitors were able to enjoy
the Vette Seaplane Base from the wa
ter by going for a ride on either of
two pontoon boats that were staffed
by volunteers and driven about the
base. This afforded an excellent close
up view of the seaplanes and the en
tire base itself. Judging by the smiles
on the faces as they stepped off the

~ -- - .- .
A regular at Oshkosh for over 20 years is this Piper J-3
Cub, N98761, mounted on a set of highly polished Edo
1320 floats and flown by veteran floatplane pilot, Jerry
Ness, from Rapid River, Michigan.

22

OCTOBER

2002

pontoon boats, the passengers were

quite excited by the tours.
One of the highlights of the week
was to visit with Clay Jacobson and
his lovely wife, LeeAnn, from Aus
tralia . Several years ago this couple
arrived at the seaplane fly-in in a
Cessna Caravan on amphibious
floats, making the trip from Reno,
Nevada. While at Oshkosh, Clay
earned his Instrument Rating and
the two of them took off on a "round
the world" flight in the Caravan.
Completing the trip, Clay and
LeeAnn sold the Caravan and floats
and moved to Australia, where they
now reside. The trip back to Oshkosh
once a year is just icing on the cake!
Best wishes to you good people.
Again this year, all incoming sea
planes were met at the dock by a
lady dockhand-which always rat
tles a few cages! These dockhands
really enjoy their work and the qual
i ty of their greetings really shows.
The entire crew on the five docks is
under the direction of Lon Nanke
and believe me when I say that they
do a fine job.
New this year was the installation
of an electric aircraft hoist that would
lift a seaplane out of the water (about
four feet above the surface) and then
rotate the seaplane 180 degrees so it

Flown in from Lakewood, Wisconsin, by Norbert Langer, this

highly modified Piper PA-12, N40DZ, was built up with new
Edo 2000 floats by Chuck Andreas of Neenah, Wisconsin.

This brightly colored Taylorcraft BC-12D on

floats was flown to Oshkosh from Cowada, Que
bec, Canada, by Boily Caral and Andrew
Durocher. Registered in Canada as CF-POJ, the
sharp-looking two placer makes a dandy float
plane with its 23015 airfoil and large wing.

Floating in the Vette lagoon is this pretty Aeronca Champion,

N1715E, mounted on a set of Edo 1400 floats and flown to
Oshkosh by Pat Angelo of Hibbing, Minnesota.

fied everyone! We all

sat there with amazed
looks on our faces. We
couldn't believe what
was coming forth
from the squeezebox.
After an hour of the
most beautiful accor
dion music I had ever
heard, we finally
called it a day and
Seppo was issued
Enjoying the forenoon sunshine of the Vette
Posing in the afternoon is this Stinson 108, C
strict instructions
Seaplane Base is this nicely painted Cessna
GYVR, mounted on a set of Edo 2425 floats. Note
Come back next year
the controllable prop and auxiliary fins on the tail
185, N3130Q, mounted on a set of Aerocet
and bring your accor
3500 floats and flown to Oshkosh by Dick
that signifies something larger than the original
dion with you! I later
Dobbs from Duluth, Minnesota.
150 hp Franklin engine.
learned that Seppo
Haapamaki (I love
would be ready for launching when that Finnish name) was a former
lowered into the water. The unit North American World Champion
worked remarkably well and can Accordion player! What a most de
handle up to a Cessna 185 on floats. lightful surprise to meet him and
The hoist fascinated bystanders as it hear his outstanding music.
By Monday, the week was begin
iE~ proceeded to do its job.
~
The evening programs were very ning to wear down and so was the
ffi well attended with the Saturday
seaplane fly-in. With fine weather
t;;
for nearly the entire week, it was a
~ night Watermelon Party completely
dandy fly-in, enjoyed by everyone
~ sold out. The Thursday night Mexi
can Party was a complete success and with no accidents to mar the
Taxiing up to the dock is Rick Lutes
with a fine meal followed by this au gathering. We are especially in
from Hampshire, Illinois, in his Piper
thor playing accordion music under debted to the U.S. Coast Guard for
J-3 Cub, N98413.
the big tent. After about 45 their fine help in patrolling the
minutes of music, a Cana area during the fly-in and for being
dian volunteered his ready if needed. In addition we
brother to spell me. I soon want to extend our thanks to Mer
met Seppo Haapamaki cury Marine for the use of outboard
from Timmins, Ontario, motors throughout the entire fly
who strapped on the accor in. Lastly, we are all indebted to
dion and proceeded to John Vette and his sister, Burleigh
Being towed from the arrival dock to a
light up the entire tent with his fab (Vette) Blust, for allowing us to use
float is a beautiful Cessna 170,
ulous music! It made no difference their beautiful site for the EAA Sea
N3287A, on Edo 2000 floats, flown to
of the type of music-Seppo played plane Fly-In. A most hearty THANK
Oshkosh by its owner, Brent Wenger.
......
it all-and with a dexterity that de- YOU from all of us.
(f)

VINTAGE AIRPLAN E

23

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING

BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

NAVY N3N
Walt Houghton, Shelburne, Vermont, has recently completed the restoration of this Navy N3N, finished in the
color scheme it sported when it was one of the last biplanes still in the U.S. Navy inventory. It was stationed at NAS
Annapolis and was fitted with a single centerline float and wingtip floats. Used for building time for permanently as
signed station personnel and flight orientation for midshipmen, it was finally surplused out of the Navy in 1959.

DOUBLE SUPER CUBS

STEWART'S CUB
Mark Stewart, Lewis Center, Ohio, has done it again
with another great restoration of one of the low
horsepower Cubs. This one is a J-2, removed in pieces
from a collapsing barn in southern Michigan in 1997.
Most of the original structure and parts, including the
engine, could be restored. The J-2 is powered by a
Continental A-40, which develops 37 hp at 2550 rpm.
It weighs 599 pounds empty, and at a gross weight of
1,000 pounds it will carry two passengers at 60 mph.
Mark flew it to Sentimental Journey in Lock Haven,
Pennsylvania, where together with two other J-2s, he
flew in an all Continental A-40 powered fly-by! He
also gave retired Sport Aviation editor Jack Cox his first
ride in a J-2 at the event.
24

OCTOBER 2002

No, what you're seeing isn't the result of camera

shake. Ron and Nancy Normark of Raleigh, North Car
olina, have his and hers Super Cubs they fly in formation
to various fly-ins and to their EAA Chapter 506 meet
ings. The first, restored seven years ago, is a 1950
PA-18-150 with a Lycoming 0-235-Cl engine, and it
weighs only 850 pounds. It has no electrical system, and
was built light to keep the performance outstanding.
The newest restoration is a 1955 150-hp Cub, which has
a starter (Nancy likes that part a lot!). It weighs in at
1,028 pounds, so it has a longer ground run than the
other Cub, but by virtue of its 150 hp, it will outclimb
the lighter Cub. Ron and Nancy thank Bob Woods of
Woods Aviation in Goldsboro, North Carolina, for his
major contributions to both projects. Bob's the EAA
Chapter 506 EAA Technical Counselor.

BY E.E. "BUCK" HILBERT, EAA #2 1 VAA #5

P.O. Box 424,

UNION,

IL 60180

Round Engines
If you recall, last month I quoted
an old retired pilot's lament over
the passing of the round recip en
gines, and his opinion of the
turbines. All I've done since is
think about the old round engines.
For certain, they initiated this old
man into the early and even latter
days of his career.
My first round engine experi
ence was with the Wright j-5 . The
duster outfit I grunted for had a C
3 Stearman, and that engine was
standard equipment on the Stear
man. Later, I was cabin crew on a
duster-converted Ryan Brougham.
It had a much more powerful
Wright j-6-9. My job was to keep
the hopper full as the pilot made
pass after pass spreading the dust.
Then we added a Travel Air to the
fleet. It had one of the NEW Conti
nental 670s on it. I never got to fly
in that one.
Being a grunt didn't give me the
opportunity to actually operate
these engines, but I did pour copi
ous amounts of oil into them, clean
spark plugs, wash them down, make
sure the fuel tanks were full, and
hand-prop them. In those days I
weighed in at 137 pounds and was
5 foot 6 inches. This "kid" learned
propping, believe me.
After a while I was allowed to
bring the airplanes up to the line
from the hangar. I actually got to
start them and taxi them. Then as I
gained more experience, when we
were out on the dusting circuit, I
did the morning run-up. Eventually
I was checked out in the Stearman
and allowed to ferry it from job to
job. Now that was living!

Pearl Harbor and the onset of

World War II brought an end to
these adventures for me, and many
others. It was off to the military
where my round engine experi
ence was further enhanced.
When I got to Primary, it was
Stearman PTs with the W-670s and
Lycoming 680s. I even flew one
with a jacobs. Of the three, I think
I liked the Lycoming the best. It
was so smooth and quiet with
those nine cylinders that you could
hear the wires whistle in the rela
tive wind, and it didn't shake like
the jake.

.. . you knew
you had
something
when those
600 horses
went to work.
Basic was the BT-13s and 15s.
Really big round engines. This was
IT; the Pratt & Whitney R-985 put
out 450 horses and seemed like it
was hardly working when you flew
behind it, but for those on the
ground , it really blatted! The
Wright 975 didn't enjoy the solid
reputation of the Pratt and was a
little touchier, but it did a great job
of pulling those instrument train

ers around.
Now, the really big round en
gine on the AT-6 was what we flew
in Advanced. With 1340 cubic
inches of Pratt & Whitney attached
to those engine controls, you knew
you had something when those
600 horses went to work.
And then , a step backward. A
twin-engine transition into the
Cessna AT-17, UC-78, the "San
joaquin Valley BeauFighter" or
"Double Breasted Cub," whatever
name you choose, with two jacobs
engines of 245 hp each. Now we
begin to learn about synchronizing
propellers, paralleling generators,
symmetrical and unsymmetrical
thrust, minimum control speeds,
and the "fun" goes out of flying
it now becomes serious business.
With hardly more than a con
trolled rate of descent with one
engine "out," survival depends on
your ability to "nurse" that re
maining engine and make it to a
safe landing.
I was puzzled at first. My only
thought was that if you had to de
sign a two-engine airplane to fly on
one engine, why bother with two?
How about four? That was the
next stop. B-17s. Now it was tur
bochargers, feathering props, four
of everything. Overwhelming!
With all four running they took
the B-17 to unprecedented heights.
With turbochargers we could get
takeoff power at 30,000 feet. Those
Wright engines probably would
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

25

Workshop Schedule
Oct 19. 2002

Boston. MA
TEST FLYING
YOUR PROJECT

Oct 19-20. 2002 Boston. MA

SHEET METAL
COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT.
FABRIC COVERING
ELECTRICAL SYSTEMS
Nov 2-3. 2002 Minneapolis. MN
SHEET METAL
COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT.
INTRO TO AIRCRAFT BLDG
FABRIC COVERING
Nov 8-10. 2002 Griffin. GA
TIGWELDING

Nov 9-10. 2002 Griffin. GA

FINISHING &
SPRAYING PAINT
GAS WELDING
SHEET METAL
SHEET METAL FORMING
Nov 23. 2002

Corona. CA
TEST FLYING
YOUR PROJECT

Nov 23-24. 2002 Corona. CA

SHEET METAL
COMPOSITE CONSTRUCT.
FABRIC COVERING
Dec 6-8. 2002 Griffin. GA
RVASSEMBLY
TIGWELDING
Dec 6-8. 2002 Corona. CA
RVASSEMBLY

Visit www.sportair.com for a complete listing of workshops.

$PORrJJIR
WORKSHOPS

--~ --

26

OCTOBER

2002

1-800-WORKSHOP
1-800-967-5746
sportair@eaa.org

have gone much higher, but th e

wing was never designed to go
that high . My personal opinion
was that the B-17 flew best at the
intermediate and lower altitudes.
Ten to twelve thousand was th e
best. Without pressurization,
which ca me much later, thos e
were also the maximum altitudes
for passenger and crew comfort.
By this time, operating round
engines was old hat ! There was a
succession of other multiengin e
military airplanes: C-47s, Douglas
A-20 and 26s, even B-24s, and for
a while a Martin B-26. Then it was
back to the Stearman, and finally
the Twin Beech as we trained Chi
nese nationalist pilots in th e
dosing days of WWII.
Fast-forward five years. Very lit
tle round engine time. Dirt fi eld
flying, flight instruction, charter,
crop spra y ing, banner towing ,
glider towing, a tour in Army Avia
tion, most all in flat engines, and
then finally an airline job.
Back to the round engine. DC-3,
DC-4 , Co nvair 340-440s, DC-6 ,
DC-7. Thirteen yea rs of airline
round engines. In all those yea rs
there were a couple of precaution
ary shutdowns, but I can only
count two actual engine failures .
Both Wright Turbo-compound en
gines in DC-7s. More than 10,000
hours of recip flying.
When one thinks of all the parts
and pieces working in unison on a
recip engine at maybe 7S percent
pow er, it 's hard to believe they
were as reliable as the y were. It
seemed like the harder and more
often you worked them, the better
they ran. The local service opera
tion in the DC-3s and Convair
440s seldom gave those engines
time to cool off. We averaged a
landing every 40 minutes. Rain ,
snow, ice, summer heat , we
worked those engines unmerci
fully, and they stood up to it.
We had problems. Mags, foul ed
plugs (from long ground holds ),
propeller governors, high oil con
sumption, high head temperatures,

but they always ran and always got

us there.
There were mechanical, electri
cal, and hydraulic problem s, and
an occasional starter burnout, but
by far and large, the engines were
the least of our problems.
Small wonder that when we
transitioned into the turbine s we
felt a sense of loss. We had ye t to
experience what the new hires had
been trying to tell us. These recent
ex-military people coming o n as
flight engineers had never seen o r
heard a round engine until th ey
came to the airline. We shou ld
have listened; the transition might
have been much easier.
As it was, th e transition was a
chore for us old seat-of-the-pants
types. The new tech language threw
us, and whenever we said some
thing like, "Oh, yea h , thrust lever,
don 't yo u m ean throttle? " the in
structors would cringe and th e n
lecture us on the proper terminol
ogy. So we had a "high pressure
fuel cock" rather than a mixtur e
control, no primer or igniti o n
switch, no mags to check, and lots
of limitations to learn.
We never heard of FOD before.
That's foreign object damage caused
by that big vacuum cleaner out there
under th e wing. The tachometers
were now percent gauges, and th e
manifold gauge was an EPR (exhaust
pressure ratio) or something like
that . But we learned , and learned
quickly that these were the most re
liable forms of propulsion ever.

No mag checks, no mixtures or

prop controls to play with, just
light th e fire and GO. We lea rned
about spooling up , th e lag time,
how to do stabilized approaches
keeping the power up, and dirtying
up the airplane by using flaps gear,
speed brakes, and whateve r; there
was no drag of a windmilling pro
peller to slow down the airplane,
and it felt like you were going Mach
1 all the time.
After the strangeness wore off, it
actually became a pl eas ure to fly,
with one exception. They were just
too fast. When we flew the old re
cips, we averaged about four hours
of flight with ma y be an hour on
the ground for servicing. Now we
flew an hour and spent four hours
waiting for the airplane to be
turned around. That wasn't the en
gine's fault; offloading all those
passengers , bagga ge, and cargo,
cleaning up the airplane, fueling
and reloading everything, and then
sweating out the ATC delays burned
a lot of daylight.
I could go on and o n about
schedules, the versatility of the air
planes, the ability to climb high
and deviate around weather, and
still make schedule along with the
comfort for the pa sse ng ers, but
we'll save that for another time,
that is, if you want to h ear more.
Over to you,

OCTOBER 12-Toughkenamon, PA
EAA Chapter 240, 28th Annual Fly
In/D rive-In Pancake Breakfast. 8:00
a.m. at New Garden Airport (N57).
Young Eagles' Rally. Ad mission free .
Info: 215-761-3191
OCTOBER 12-Ridgeway, VA-EAA Ch.
970 Old- Fashion Grass Field Fly-In
and Pig-Picking. Pace Field (VA02).
Info: 276-956-2159.
OCTOBER 12-Kentol1, OH-EAA Ch.
1196 An nual Chili Fly-In at Hardin
Co. Airport (i-95). 11 a.m. until?
(Rain date Sun., 10/13) Info: 419-673
9542
OCTOBER 16-20- Tullahoma, TN
Beech Party 2002, A Homecoming.
Stagge rwi ng!Twin Beech 18/ Beech
Owners/Enthu siasts. Info: 93 1-455
1974
OCTOBER 19-5eguil1, TX-(OTX6)
Annual Fly-In at Elm Creek. Info:
830-303-6577 or
VEStaley@peoplepc.com or

http://www.aimav.com/a irport/OTX6

31905 West 175, Gardner, KS (K-34)

Pilot supplies- Training Aids- Aircraft Parts-Aviation tun Stuff

The fol/owing list ofcoming events is fur

nished to our rea ders as a matter of
information only and does not constitute ap
proval, sponsorship, involvement, control or
direction of any event (fly-in, seminars, fly
market, etc.) listed. Please send the informa
tion to EAA, Att: Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box
3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Informa
tion should be received fOllr months prior to
the event date.

OCTOBER 19-Fort Pierce, FL-EAA Ch .

908 Fly-In Pancake Breakfast, Ft.
Pierce Int'l Airport. Info: 772-464
0538 or 772-461-7175.
NOVEMBER 23-Fort Pierce, FL-EAA
Ch. 908 Fly-In Pa ncake Breakfast, Ft.
Pierce Int'l Airport. Info: 772-464
0538 or 772-461 -7175.
D ECEMBER 21-Fort Pierce, FL-EAA
Ch . 908 Fly-In Pa ncake Breakfast, Ft.
Pierce Int'l Airport. Info: 772-464
0538 or 772-461-7175 .

SKYWARD

913 -856 -7851; www.skywardpi/otshop.com

FLY-IN CALENDAR

."

EAA FLYIN SCHEDULE 2002

EAA SOUTHEAST REGIONAL FLYIN
www.serfiorg
October 4-6, Evergreen, AL

Located in the "~eart of America" for fast nationwidedelivery

Avcom Mcrarlane Aviation Products CorrosionX-ReJex Compaq

COPPERSTATE EAA FLYIN

www.copperstate.org
October 10-13, Phoenix, AZ
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

27

NEW MEMBERS

Paul D. Conway . .. . .. .. . West Vancouver, BC, Canada

Gerald D. Norberg ...... .. ... St. Norbert, MB, Canada

Robert C. McKellar ................ Kars, ON, Canada

Gerard Klein ...... .... ........ Le Robert, Martinique

Jesus Alberto Delgado ....... .... Garza Garza, Mexico

Donald S. Goldberg .............. Bermuda Dunes, US

Carol A. Scanlon ................ Bermuda Dunes, US

Stephen A. Fox ...... . .. . .... ...... .. .... Bethel, AK

Roger Wentowski ........ ... ........ Birmingham, AL

Greg McCoy .......... . ..... . . .. ..... Springdale, AR

David Carlson .......................... Tucson, AZ

Michael G. Clifton ............ ... . ..... Flagstaff, AZ

Kenneth C. Larsen............... . ..... . Phoenix, AZ

Donald Clark ...... ........ ........... Oakhurst, CA

Gregory D. Conklin ........... ...... Nevada City, CA

Ken]. Frank .... . .... .. ... . ........ Nevada City, CA

Geo rge E. Marshall .... . .... ....... Santa Monica, CA

Autumn Murdock ............. Huntington Beach, CA

Robert W. Reid ... . ............ ..... .... Milpitas, CA

Ken C. Stake ......... ................. .. Visalia, CA

Jim Thomas ....... .. . . .. ............ Groveland, CA

Paulo Ubach ....... .... . ..... ... ........ . Davis, CA

Tina Ziolkowski . ... ............ ... Diamond Bar, CA

Charlie Huff ................. ........ Crawford, CO

Th omas B. Mezger ..................... . . Parker, CO

George R. Risley ........... .......... . Loveland, CO

Alfonse Fratelli. ......................... . Dover, DE

Jon A. Baker ....... .......... . . . . .... Lake Wales, FL

William Custer ........................... Ocala, FL

Vicente Lanz ..................... ... Boca Raton, FL

Ronald Silliman ... . . . ... . . . .............. Naples, FL

Leon Stovall .......... . .. .. ... .... Satellite Beach, FL

R. C. Tears ......... ... . .. . . .. . ...... Fort Meyers, FL

Jeffery W. Johnson ................. .... Douglas, GA

Tommy E. Lenhart ..... .. .......... . . Barnesville, GA

Mark A. Sorenson ...................... . Senoia, GA

Jim Davies . . . .. . .. . . .. .. . ... .. . . .. Garden Valley, ID

William Bozych ............ .......... . Oak Lawn, IL

Michael Ca mpbell ................ .... New Lenox, IL

Rex Catron ........................... Greenville, IL

Donald C. Hegebarth .. ... . .. .... . ... .. Naperville, IL

Donald G. Kroenlein .... .............. Moweaqua, IL

Norton Richards . ................ ........ Batavia, IL

Thomas W. Taylor .................. Cherry Valley, IL

Erik Andrew Taylor ................. . . .. Minooka, IL

Rod Dutt.......... .... .......... ........ Culver, IN

Richard McCloskey ............ . ....... . Granger, IN

Patrick Reed ............. .. ..... .. Prairie Village, KS

Sidney MacQueen ................ .... Amesbury, MA

Bernard J. Bisciotti ............ ..... Severna Park, MD

Gerry Freed ..................... . ........ Ovid, MI

Raymond J. Kendzicky ......... ... ..... Brighton, MI

28

OCTOBER

2002

Thomas E. Baker .. ............ ....... . 0 Fallon, MO

WaIlIis M. Jackson ... .. .. ............ Cleveland, MO

William D. Melvin .... ............... Florissant, MO

Steve H. Riley ................ . .. ..... St Joseph, MO

Mike Groarke ........ . . .... ............ Marion, MT

Paul A. Woody ................ .. ... .... Billings, MT

Joseph F. Giallo ... ........... .. ........ Raleigh, NC

Christopher M. Goggin .... . . . ...... Wilmington, NC

Leo V. Keeling ... . ....... . .. ... . .... Walhalla, NO

Ken Pokorski .. ..... . . ........... ... ... Bellevue, NE

Gregory Brown .................... . ... Somerset, NJ

Brett Kallish ...... ... .... .............. Palmyra, NJ

David Lewis ................... . . . ... Broadalbin, NY

Eugene L. Oshrin . .. ... . . .......... Southampton, NY

John M. Przestrzelski . .... . . . ..... ... .. Frankfort, NY

Robert L. Kyle ..... .. ... ..... ...... Munroe Falls, OH

Donald W. Peters ............ .. .. .... Westerville, OH

Charles W. Sauter .... .... ... .. .... ... Columbus, OH

Raymond F. Williams .. . .......... . ..... Canton, OH

Bill Holbrook .............. . ... .... .... Springer, OK

Brian Breitbarth ........ .. . ...... .... .... Canby, OR

Rick Holman ....... ......... . ....... ... Eugene, OR

Harold G. Nelson............ ..... .... Pendleton, OR

Jorge Troncoso .. . . .. . .. .............. Elkins Park, PA

Ted Willke ....... ... .. ..... . ... ....... Sewickley, PA

Barron Cooley .. . .... .. ............... Anderson, SC

Susan Kaffar ......... .... .......... .... ... Trent, SO

Martin G. Galyon.................... Sweetwater, TN

W. D. Graebner ........ ... . . .. ............ Eads, TN

Paul W. Gray ................ ..... . ....... Eads, TN

Sandy Anderson ... . ............ ........ . Nixon, TX

Richard C. Boyer ................... Georgetown, TX

Ca rl H. Christensen ... . ...... . ........ Columbus, TX

Paul A. Donner. .... .. ...... .. . . .......... Hurst, TX

Connie Edwards ......... .. . . . ........ Big Spring, TX

Danny Goggans ......... ........ Sulphur Springs, TX

Brad L. Henley .............. . ..... ... McKinney, TX

Lloyd P. Sutton .. ... .............. . Wichita Falls, TX

Stephen M. White ... . .. ..... .. . ... Garden Ridge, TX

Gary E. Williams .................... Fort Worth, TX

Robert Williamson .. ... ...... ........ Greenville, TX

William H. Wisner .. ..... .............. Mineola, TX

Walter Martens ... ...... . .. .. ........... Sterling, VA

William Uher ... .... ... . . ....... . Virginia Beach, VA

Dale L. Colbert....... .... ....... . ..... Olympia, WA

Eric Johnson ............................ Valley, WA

Madelaine J. Kenney .... ....... ... ....... Seattle, WA

Anne E. Lovett ........... . . ............ Tacoma, WA

Leigh A. Tallman ... ....... . .. .. . . ...... Renton, WA

Milo Tichacek ................. ... . ..... Randle, WA

Roy Van Sluys .... ... .. .. ... ... ...... Sheboygan, WI

Alan J. Watt ................. . ...... . Waukesha, WI

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Absolutely! And because Poly-Fiber doesn't support

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and stronger, too, able to fly even higher! What a
shame Poly-Fiber wasn't around back then. Timing is
everything, huh Howard?

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Leonard E. ~, Editor

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Indepth articles on historic
aircraft
Great photos including
details & cockpits
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

29

VINTAGE

TRADER

'"The use of Dacron or ~milar modern molerio~ as asubslilufe for conan is a

dead giveOW<!y 10 Ihe knowing ey. They simply do nollook righl on vinloge
aircraft,' Irom Rob.rt Mikesh, lormer curalor ollhe Nolional Air and Space
Museum, in his book Restoring Museum AircraN.

Every

Ohio Aircraft Interior

is a fu ture piece of

aviation history.

VltiTAGe AeRO FAP.>RICJ, LTD

'" PURVEYORS '"

Award Winning Vintage Interiors

Paul Workman

OHIO AIRC RAFT INTERIORS

Parr Airport (421)

Zanesville, Ohio 43701

800.794.6560

"Original Hieuport 28 reslored by Vinlage Avianon Services

Radial Exhaust Systems

PRIME

Jumping Branch, WV 25969

27 Years Experience

CLASSIFIED REAL ESTATE

15 different engines for fitting

Something to buy,

sell or trade?
Classified Word Ads: $5.50 per 10
words, 180 words maximum, with bold
face lead-in on first line.
Classified Display Ads: One column
wide (2.167 inches) by 1, 2, or 3 inches
high at $20 per inch. Black and white
only, and no frequency discounts.
Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of
second 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 (classads @eaa.org) using
credit card payment (all cards accepted).
Include name on card, complete address,
type of card, card number, and expira
tion date. Make checks payable to EAA.
Address advertising correspondence to
EAA Publications Classified Ad Manager,
P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.

AVAILABLE ON THIS PAGE -

$20

PER INCH/PER MONTH

TO MAKE

10,000+

IMPRESSIONS.

CALL JULIE AT EAA HQ

920-426-6127
Antiques, Warbirds, Cropdusters
304-466-1752 Fax 304-466-0802

FOR MORE INFO.

If you're an BAA member or have ever been to AirVenture,

this book belongs in your library or on your coffee table.
Oshkosh-Gateway to Aviation
E1 10 13
00

$35.

Hardbound with glossy dust jacket

More than 175 pages
More than 300 photos
Covers all 50 years of EMs fly-in in
Milwaukee, Rockford, and Oshkosh
Filled with unique stories and history
A nostalgic and insightful look at the
development and growth of EAA through
its largest and exciting event: its annual
fly-in convention.

To Order Call:
800-843-3612
Outside U.S. & Canada call (920) 426-4800
or visit us on-line at www.eaa.org, or send
your order by mail to: EAA Mail Orders,
P.O. Box 3086 Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086
Maior Credil Cards Accepled WI residenls add 5% sales lax
Shipping and handling NOT included

30

OCTOBER 2002

BABBITT BEARING SERVICE - rod bear

ings, main bearings, bushings, master rods,
valves, piston rings Call us Toll Free 1-800
233-6934, e-mail ramremfg@aol.com Web
site www.ramengine.com VINTAGE ENGINE
MACHINE WORKS, N. 604 FREYA ST. ,
SPOKANE, WA 99202.
Airplane T-Shirts

150 Different Airplanes Available

WE PROBABLY HAVE YOUR AIRPLANE!

www.airplanetshirts.com
1-800-645-7739
THERE'S JUST NOTHING LIKE IT

ON THE WEB!!

www.aviation-giftshop.com
A Web Site With The Pilot In Mind
(and those who love airplanes)
For sale, reluctantly: Warner 145 & 165
engines. 1 each, new OH and low time. No
tire kickers, please. Two Curtiss Reed props
to go with above engines. 1966 Helton Lark
95, Serial #8. Very rare, PO-8 certified Target
Drone derivative. Tri-gear Culver Cadet. See
Juptner's Vol. 8-170. Total time A&E 845 hrs.
I just have too many toys and I'm not getting
any younger. Find my name in the Officers &
Directors listing of Vintage and e-mail or call
evenings. E. E. "Buck" Hilbert
Flying wires available.

1994 pricing. Visit

f/yingwires.com or caIlBOO-517-9278.

www.MotorArtWorks.com - Aviation Art

favorites: WW-I, Golden Age, WW-II to
present.

Membership Services
VINTAGE

AIRCRAFT
ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EAA AND
THE EAA VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION
ASSOCIATION

Directo!y-

EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086

OFFICERS
PresIdent
Espie ' Butch" Joyce
P.o. Box 35584
Greensboro, NC 27425
336-6683650

windsock@aol.com
Secretary

Steve Nesse
2009 Highland Ave.
Albert Lea, MN 56007
5073731674

George Daubner
2448 Lough Lane
Hartford, WI 53027
2626735885
vaaflyboy@aoLcom

Treasurer
Charles W. Harris
7215 East 46th Sl.
Tulsa, OK 74147
9186228400

cwh@hv5u.com

Dale A. Gustafson
7724 Shady Hills Dr.
Indianapolis, IN 46278
3172934430

ssti<Xl@worldnet.att.net

dalefaye@msn.com

David Bennett
P.O. Box 1188
Roseville, CA 95678
916-6456926

antiquer@irueach.com

Jeannie Hill
P.O. Box 328
Harvard, IL 60033
8159437205
dinghao@owc.net

Jobn Berendt

7645 Echo Point Rd.

cannon Falls, MN 55009

5072632414

Steve Krog

1002 Heather Ln.

Hartford, WI 53027

2629667627

fchld@rconnect.com

sskrog@aol.com

Robert C. "Bob" Brauer

9345 5. Hoyne
Chicago, IL 60620
7737792105
photopilot@aoLcom

Robert D. "Bob" Lumley

1265 South 124th St.
Brookfield, WI 53005
2627822633

Dave Clark

Gene Morris

635 Vestal Lane

Plainfield, IN 46168
317-8394500
davecpd@iquesl.net

5936 Steve Court

Roanoke, TX 76262
8174919110

Jobn S. Copeland
1A Deacon Street
Northborough, MA 01532
5083934775

Dean Richardson
1429 Kings Lynn Rd
Stoughton, WI 53589
608877-8485

copeJandl@juno.com

dar@aprllaire.com

P)lil Coulson

28415 Springbrook Dr.

Lawton, MI 49065

616-6246490

Geoff Robison

1521 E. MacGregor Dr.

New Haven, IN 46774

260-4934724
chief7025@aoLcom

rcoulsonSl6@cs.com
Roger Gomoll

8891 AirpOrt Rd, Box C2

Blaine, MN 55449

763786-3342

pledgedrive@msncom

eaa.org

VIce President

DIRECTORS
Steve Bender
815 Airport Road
Roanoke, TX 76262
8174914700

Phone (920) 426-4800 Fax (920) 426-4873

Web Site: http://www.eaa.org and http://www.airventure.org

E-Mail: vintage

lumper@execpc.com

n03capt@flash.net

S.H. "Wes" Schmid

2359 Lefeber Avenue
Wauwatosa, WI 53213
4147711545
shschmid@milwpc.com

DIRECTORS

EMERITUS

Gene Chase

f.E. "Buck" Hilbert

2159 Carlton Rd.

Oshlmsh, WI 54904
920-2315002

P.O. Box 424

Union, IL 60180
8159234591
buck7ac@m.c.net

ADVISOR
Alan Shackleton
P.O. Box 656

Sugar Grove, IL 605540656

630-4664\93

103346.177Z@Compuserve.com

EAA and Division Membership Services

8008433612 ............ FAX 9204266761
Monday-Friday CSn
(8:00 AM-7:00 PM
New/renew memberships: EAA, Divisions
(Vintage Aircraft Association, lAC, Warbirds),
National Association of Flight Instructors
(NAFI)

Address changes
Merchandise sales
Gift memberships

Programs and Activities

EAA AirVenture FaxOn-Demand Directory
........... . .............. 732885-6711
Auto Fuel STCs .............. 920426-4843
Build/restore information ..... 9204264821
Chapters: locating/organizing .. 9204264876
Education ... . ....... . ...... 920426-6815
EAA Air Academy
EAA Scholarships

Flight Advisors information . . .. 9204266522

Flight Instructor information . . . 9204266801
Flying Start Program ........ . . 9204266847
Library Services/Research ...... 9204264848
Medical Questions ..... . ..... . 9204264821
Technical Counselors ......... 9204264821
Young Eagles . . ........ . ..... 9204264831
Benefits
AUA ...................... 8007273823
AVEMCO ............ . .... . 8006388440
Term Life and Accidental . . .... 8002416103
Death Insurance (Harvey Watt & Company)
Editorial ......... . ..... . ... 9204264825

............ . .......... FAX 9204264828

Submitting article/photo
Advertising information
EAA Aviation Foundation
Artifact Donations . .......... 9204264877
Financial Support .. . ........ 800-2361025

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION

EAA
Membership in the Experimental Aircraft Associ
ation, Inc. is $40 for one year, induding 12 issues of
SPORT AVL4.TION. Family membership is available
for an additional $10 annually. Junior Membership
(under 19 years of age) is available at $23 annually.
All major credit cards accepted for membership.
(Add S16 for Foreign Postage.)

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

Current EAA members may join the Vintage
Aircraft Associaton and receive VINTA GE A IR
PLANE magazine for an additional $36 per year.
EAA Membership, VI N TAGE A IRPLANE
magaZine and one year membership in the EAA
Vintage Aircraft Association is available for $46
per year (SPORT AVIATION magaZine not in
cluded). (Add S7 for Foreign Postage.)

AVIA TION magazine not included). (Add S1S

for Foreign Postage.)

WARBIRDS
Current EAA members may join the EAA War
birds of America Division and receive WARBIRDS
magaZine for an additional $40 per year.
EAA Membership, WARBIRDS magaZine
and one year membership in the Warbirds Divi
sion is available for $50 per year (SPOR T
AVIATION magazine not included). (Add S7 fo r

Foreign Postage.)

EAA EXPERIMENTER

lAC

Current EAA members may receive EAA

EXPERIMENTER magazine for an additional
$20 per year.
EAA Membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER
magazine is available for $30 per year (SPORT
AVIATION magaZine not included). (Add S8 for

Current EAA members may join the Interna

tional Aerobatic Club, Inc. Division and receive
SPORT AEROBATICS magazine for an addi
tional $45 per year.
EAA Membership, SPOR T AEROBA TICS
magaZine and one year membership in the lAC
Division is available for $55 per year (SPORT

Please submit your remittance with a check or

draft drawn on a United States bank payable in
United States dollars. Add required Foreign
Postage amount for each membership.

Foreign Postage.)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS

Membersh ip dues to EAA and its divisions are not tax deductible as charitable contributions.

Copyright 2002 by the EM Vintage Aircraft Association

All rights reserved.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 00916943) IPM 1482602 is published and owned exclusively by the EM Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EAA Aviation
Center, 3000 PoberelOY Rd., P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 549033086. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh. Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to EAA
Vintage Aircraft Association, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 549033086. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for deliv"", 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 POUCY: 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, P.O. Box 3086. Oshkosh. WI 549033086. Phone 9201426-4800.
EAA" and SPORT AVIATlONf'J, the EAA LogO<> and Aeronautica~ are registered trademart<s, trademart<s, and service mart<s of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and service
marks without the peonission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.
The EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION Logo is a trademark of the EAA Aviation Foundation, Inc. The use of this trademark without the peonission of the EAA Aviation Foundation, Inc. is strictty prohibited.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

31

DAVE MILLER ''WARBIR D AVIATOR"

Daye Miller
Sturgeon Bay, WI

"AUA is very good about finding good prices for my

aviation insurance. They are very easy to work with and
very accommodating."

- Dave Miller

The best is affordable. Give AUA a call - it's FREE!

800-727-3823
Fly with the pros ... fly with AUA Ino.

AVIATION UNLIMITED AGENC:Y