Vintage Airplane - Jan 1989

7/27/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jan 1989

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STR IGHT ND LEVEL

As we start a new year, politicians aregoing to be giving speeches about the stateof the federal government. I suppose it isappropriate at this time to discuss the stateof the Antique/Classic Division.Our membership continues to grow. Weare now reaching approximately 5,600members, making us the largest group withour particular interest in the United States.Through the efforts of all the members andvolunteers who work for the division, weare in sound financial condition. The division pledges a donation to the MuseumFoundation each year. Also, the divisionwas the prime sponsor of the Air Academyin its early days and takes pride in havingdone so. All chapters are on solid groundand appear to be very active, and thenumber of chapters is growing. The boardof directors and advisors are among the bestpeople in the world and they are dedicatedto the division. Our relationship with EAAHeadquarters could not be better. Communication is great and I encourage evenmore communication among directors, officers and members . Let us know how youfeel about different issues.The request for a repairman 's certificatefor antique and classic aircraft that was submitted to the FAA some 1 years ago isstill on hold, but we haven't forgotten it.When the time is right we will procedeagain. The recognition among type clubsof our division is improving. We look forward to a continued good relationship withthese clubs. All areas are growing and improving. With your input and help, this

by Espie Butch Joyce

ognized by our division . Several times ayear, we have inquiries asking when a particular aircraft will become a classic . Forexample, someone with a 1957 Bonanza oreven an early Cessna 172 will want toknow. This issue comes up for discussionfrom time to time and it is the feeling ofthe board of directors at this time that thedates will not be changed. The door is notclosed on this subject and at some point thepolicy could change .The Antique/Classic Division is uniquein that we have our magazine, THE VIN-TAGE AIRPLANE. It is the only publication issued on a regular basis that is strictlydedicated to the antique and classic movement. I hope the members enjoy this publication and that it addresses subject matteryou enjoy reading about. Our editorial staffis small so a good deal of the magazineconcentrates on the Oshkosh Convention.We are not able to travel for interviews andto write articles about individual projectsand people . It would be helpful to the staffif you know of someone or a project thatyou would like to see published, to send

an advantage for the division because it informs all the members of EAA what we aredoing . I might even entice some to becomemembers of our group. Since our membersare interested in human interest and "howto" material , I would like to see side articlesabout these Champions and how they wererebuilt . We must depend on the membership to communicate this type of information to our headquarters staff. Mark Phelps,our editor would be most happy to receiveanything along this line . No information istoo trivial to submit. You need not be awriter, just blow your own whistle and sendus an outline, good information and pictures.We also have a member service in THEVINTAGE AIRPLANE that not many peopleare using. Let's not forget the "VintageTrader" section. A five-dollar classified adis a give-away in a publication such as ours.Your request reaches more than 5,600 interested customers and the more peoplestart using it , the more successful it willbe. You don't have to have an airplane forsale. I am sure a number of you have oldparts lying around that you think are oflittle use to anyone. There may be anothermember who has been trying to find oneof these parts for years . Let's put the wordout in the "Vintage Trader."

In addition, those shops that do antiqueand classic rebuilds on a professional basisshould consider a display ad to let the membership know you exist. The movement isgrowing and word-of-mouth isn't alwaysenough, no matter how good you are. That


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JANUARY 1989 Vol. 17, No.1

PUBLICATION STAFFPUBLISHERTom Poberezny

VICE-PRESIDENTMARKETING & COMMUNICATIONSDick MattEDITORMark Phelps

ART DIRECTORMike DrucksADVERTISINGMary Jones

ASSOCIATE EDITORSNorman PetersenDick CavinFEATURE WRITERSGeorge A. Hardie, Jr.Dennis Parks

EDITORiAL ASSISTANTCarol KroneSTAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS

Jim KoepnickCarl SchuppelJeff IsomEAA ANTIQUE/CLASSICDIVISION, INC.OFFICERS

President Vice PresidentEspie "Butch" Joyce M.C. "Kelly" Viets604 -Hwy. Street RI. 2 Box 128Madison, NC 27025 Lyndon, KS 66451

919/4270216 913/828 3518Secretary TreasurerGeorge S. York E.E. "Buck" Hilbert181 Sloboda Ave. P.O. Box 145Mansfield, OH 44906 Union, IL60180

419/529 4378 815/923 4591

DIRECTORSRobert C. "Bob" Brauer John S. Copeland9345 S. Hoyne 9 Joanne DriveChicago, IL 60620 Westborough, MA 015813121779-2105 508/366 7245

Philip Coulson William A. Eickhoff28415 Springbrook Dr. 415 15th Ave. , N.E.Lawton, MI49065 SI. Petersburg, FL 33704616/624 6490 813/823 2339

Charles Harris Stan Gomoll3933 South Peoria 104290th Lane, NEP.O. Box 904038 Minneapolis, MN 55434Tulsa, OK 74105 6121784-11729181742 7311 Robert D. "Bob" LumleyDale A. Gustafson N104 W203877724 Shady Hili Drive Willow Creek Rd .

Indianapolis, IN 46278 Colgate, WI 53107317/2934430 414/255 6832Arthur R. Morgan Gene Morris3744 North 51st Blvd. 115C Steve Court, R R 2Milwaukee, WI53216 Roanoke, TX 76262

414/442 3631 817/491 9110Danief Neuman S.H. "Wes" Schmid1521 Berne Circle W. 2359 Lefeber AvenueMinneapolis, MN 55421 Wauwatosa, WI 53213

Copyright ' 1989 by the M AntiquelClassic Division, Inc. All rights reserved .

Contents2 Straight and LevelJby Espie "Butch" Joyce4 lC News/compiled by Mark Phelps5 Letters to the Editor8 Members Projectslby Norm Petersen

10 Time Capsulelby Mark Phelps Page 1212 McCabe Airplane: Revisited16 Greek Treasure/photos by Ted Koston18 Midwinter Festivallby Norm Petersen22 Welcome New Members23 The Forgotten Rockne Crashby Lt. Col. Boardman C Reed25 Pass I t To Bucklby E.E. "Buck" Hilbert30 Vintage Literaturelby Dennis Parks31 Vintage Trader35 Mystery Planelby George Hardie Jr.

FRONT COVER Rewing up the Continental A-80 on his 1941Aeronca 65TC N31832, sn C9181T, mounted on Federal SC-1 -1650skis is Mark Warning (EAA 188605) of Oshkosh, Wisconsin . His Copilot in the front seat is another flyer, brother Jon Warning (EM188606) also of Oshkosh . See Norm Petersen's story of a ski-planefly-in on page 18 . (Photo by Norm Petersen)BACK COVER Passengers deplaning from Concorde appear tobe stepping into the past, in the form of the front cockpit of this GipsyMoth at M Oshkosh '88. Poignant photo by the Greek master himself, Ted Koston. See more of his work on page 16.


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Compiled by Mark PhelpsEAA OSHKOSH '89 JULY 28 AUGUST 3

Plans are already well underway forthe world 's largest and most signifi cantannual av iation eve nt - the EAA International Fl y- in Convention. According to Convention Chairman Tom Poberezny, EAA's 37th annual eve nt willbe held July 28 - August 3 at WittmanField in Oshkosh, Wi sco nsin . Poberezny says, "We feel EAA Oshkoshoffe rs a forum where homebuilts, warbirds, antiques, c lass ics, ultra lights ,light planes, aeroba tic and a ll other aircraft ca n be seen in one pl ace and appreciated fo r the signifi cant role theypl ay in our everyday lives. There'ssomething here for eve ryone - yo un gand old, pilot and non-p ilot."Last year 's Fly- in was one of ourmost successful eve nts ever, espec iall yin terms of how smoo thly everythingran and our ove rall safety reco rd . Asalways, we look forward to continuingour tradition of posi tive and hea lthygrowth as we continue to promote aviation to an increas ing ly receptiveworldwide audience. "

123.4 and 123.45 ARE ILLEGALIf you are one of the many pilotswho have been using these easy-to-re

member frequencies for air-to-air com-munications , be advised that the onlyfrequencies designated for air-to-air

published by Dick Ward , 19684Lakeshore Drive, Three Rivers, Michi gan 49093:Though it does n't relate direc tly toTwin Bonanzas, it is simpl y too in teresting not to te ll you about.Man y of you know that I restored a1942 Ryan ST and fly it aro und fordi splay, from time to time. This yearat the Kalamazoo Air Show, a seniorc itizen from the ne ighboring co mmu nity of Sturgis, Michi gan stopped byand was rem inisc ing about the 1930swhen there was a Ryan on hi s field andhow he always lo ved this aircraft. Asthe conversation went along, he startedtalking about the two ree ls on 16mmfilm that were g iven to him by someone who discovered them in the basement of a nearby lake house that wasbe ing torn down . There were manyshots of this Ryan as well as manyother ea rl y aircraft th at were taken byone of the wealthy Sturgis sportsmanpilots of that era. Hi s name was EdSpence and he ow ned the CarbonCoated Company .Needless to say, I had to borrow thisfi lm and project it. When I did , I couldhardl y be lieve what I was see ing. Notonl y was there man y airport activitysce nes of aircraft and people but thereare actual shots of the inside of theRyan factory in San Di ego as well asthe Conso lidated factory show ing theconstruction of the Stinson Gullwing.These are not only classic but veryrare.Other shots show the 1935 dedication of the Sturgis Airport with somevery famous aircraft including a GEEBEE and the Gulfhawk. How about aseaplane landing on a grass runway?It' s there !Due to the delicate condition of thefi lm , I took on the project of transposing this over to YHS videotape. Thi swas made possible through the efforts

film is go ing to donate the or iginalfootage to the San Di ego Air Museum .They will g ive it a good home as arecord for future generations.If anyone is interested in sec uring apersonal copy of this tape, I can haveduplicates made and sent to you. It' sabo ut a half-hour long. The price is

$28.00. You'll see how it used to be

VINTAGE HOLIDAYGREETINGS

Phil Manke (EAA 34386) of Markesa n, Wisconsin sent these two photosof vintage Christmas cards. He writes:

"Here's a picture of two postcards rece ived by Philip Stier of Susse x, Wisconsin in 1913 , when about six yearso ld . He was the ow ner and pilot of aPheasant, a Swallow and other earlyaircraft. The EAA now has the Pheasant that was once hi s. Although thesepostcards are whimsical , some aeronautica l accuracy is evident.


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ettersT The ditor D] ~. . . . . . ~ - ~ ; r r

M ILWING M MORI SDear EditorThank you fo r th e ex tra copies ofVINTGE AIRPLANE with a photograph of my Pitcairn PA-7 o n th e backcover. The photograph was taken overLong Island sometime in th e 1960s.Pete Brucia ow ned the aircraft betwee n

1959 and 1979. You proba ly reca llth at thi s airpl ane was fea tu red on thecover of th e April 1984 SPORT AVIA-TION There were o th er photos and anarticle I wrote on the inside. [ am enclos ing some snapshots of NC 13 185shown in th e air over Oshkosh and oneon th e ground at Robbinsv ille New

Jersey . The restored airplane looks ahell of a lot better than it did when PeteBrucia owned it.

Best Reg rdsSteve Pitca irnJenkintown Pennsylvania


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[,etiers T o h e Ei tor 8

CESSNA THUMBS UPDear Mr. Joyce,I was very pleased to see the Cessna140 Oshkosh Fly-in fe atured as th elead article in the October V NTAGEAIRPLANE. Even more meaningfulwas my airplane pi ctured in the articleon page 14. The article and my pi ctorial participation came as a total surprise and obviously had to do with myN number be in g 140. Anyone who participated in the Fl y- in event I am sureechos my praise to the organi zers aswe ll as the incredible spirit that wasfe lt by all of us. I think the article captured all of th at very we ll , as we ll asbring ing us all up to date on the his toryof our class ic little airplane. Onceaga in , th anks fo r contri buting to myfl ying enjoyment by your support ofth e EAA in th e Antique/Class ic Division.Yours very truly, I remain ,R. Lee Harman, M.D. , F .A.C.S.Arlington, Washington.

CESSNABRA TIONRETRIBUTIONDear Mr. Phelps,I enjoyed ve ry much your reportingon the fli ght of th e Cessna 1201140group to Oshkosh. I visited with ArtMorgan during th e middle of September and had hea rd quite a bit aboutthe event. Art and I work ed togetherfo r 10 years in Aircraft Parking. I cancertainly imag ine the exc itement ofhandling the 163 a ircraft. The o rga ni zers of the fli ght are to be hi ghl y praisedfor th eir ingenuity of th e leading andtrailing transponde r. The pilots whoparticipated deserve a hand too.Enj oyable as is the reporting of this

va lue persona lly, there are many pilotsand members of th e Antique/Class icDi vision who do . To concl ude your article by suggesting th at the 1201140 isthe answer to th e problems of our founder ing industry leaves a bad taste inth e mouth of at least one of th at group .Perhaps you ove rlooked th e Ercoupeamong the a ll-metal postwar airplanesbecause it came on the market in 1940and achi eve d a 100-mph crui se wi th anA-65 eng ine and 0 with the postwar85 Continent al. Anyway, th at isenough nit -pick ing. I di d enj oy th e article .As always, I look forward to ge ttingVINTAGE AlRPLANE eac h month .Now th at I have jo ined a re ligious com mun ity and taken a promise of Povert y,my contact with fl ying is strictlyth rough my monthly issue . I tried toconvince my Father Supe rior that th erea l way to prac tice poverty is to ownan airplane but he didn t quite understand the argument , not be in g an aircraft owner.Gi ve NC2896 1 a lov ing pat for me,Rev. Thomas RowlandMadonna HouseCombermere, Ontar io

PHANTOM PHANHi Mark ,I wanted to express my apprec iation toyou for th e Luscombe Phantom story(Phantom Dreams, November) in T EVINTAGE AlRPLANE. It was interesting and very we ll researched and written. Thanks for publicizing Luscombeaircraft.John BergesonLuscombe AssociationRemus, Michigan

in 1952 , three or four owners ago , inhi s effort to tame the bird.Great work! ,Doug CombsLuscombe Phant om 272YIn cline Vi llage . NevadaFROM THE BIBLIOPHILE FILEDear Mr. Parks,I very much enjoy your co nt in uingser ies, "Vintage Literature" in THEVINTAGE AIRPLANE. I fo un d themost recent one on aviati on bib liographi es (October) both interestin g andusefu l. Bi bliographies are an almostessential too l for a se rious aviation library because there is more and moreand MO RE to know about a ll th e ti me.I remember being a teenage r back inthe 1950s when , it seemed, a ll th erewas avai lab le in the way of books wasth at dreadful book , AIRCRAFT OFTHE 19 14- 19 18 WA R- and I co uldn ' tafford it!One th ought - why not do one ofthe "Vint age Li terature" co lumnsabout (or a list of) the top 10 or 20mos t rare/expensive/hard-to-find aviation books? Three candidates I think ofright away are TH E FORD STORY,by Bill Larkins, TH E PAPERS OFOR VILLE AND WILBUR WRI GHTby McFarl and, and th e two-volume seton the Lafayette Escadrille by Nordhoff and Hall . Anyone of these threewould go for $ 1OO-p lus if one ever sawit listed for sale - but they are seldomseen! I ll bet you could round out th elist to an even 10 or 20 in short order.One las t th ought. A few years ago Istarted co llec ting first-editionmagaz ines . With the mortality rate ofaviation mags be ing what it is , firstedition (Vo l. I , No. I) mags may become rare as we ll as books. A friendof mine spent several years searchingfor th e fi rst copy of POPULAR A VIA


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by Norm Petersen

This nicely restored 1946 Taylorcraft BC-12D N95598, SN 7898, has been flown nearly250 hours since une, 1987, when Lee Ey ler (EAA 278108, AlC 11011) bought the aircraftfrom ohn & Glenna Bowden of Lampasas, Texas, who restored the T-craft. Lee reportsthe yellow and black airplane is truly a fun flying machine .


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Pretty paint scheme of white, red and blue sets off this Ercoupe 415-G, N94432, SN5078, flown by Fritz Bachem (EAA 286998) of Oakland, R . Photo was taken at theCottage Grove Airport in 1987. Note landing lights on main gear fairings .

A most unique airplane being restored in Florida is this 1933 Curtiss Wright 16-E,NC12380, SN 3520, mounted on a pair of 1937 Edo 44-2425 floats. The restorer isveteran EAA member Weldon (Willie) Ropp (EAA 12331) of Delray Beach, FL. He planson having the two-place biplane flying by Sun 'N Fun '89.


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The Time apsule by ark Phelps

SEVERSKY SEV-3As the first aircraft from Seversky'scompany, the prototype SEV-3 (NC2106)was originally built on amphibious floatsat the Edo Corporation on Long Island,New York. It first flew in June, 1933 andrecorded a top speed of 190 mph. Powered by a 4S0-hp Wright Whirlwind , 2106was later converted to wheels andachieved a top speed of 210 mph with a18S-mph cruise. It was ult imately sold toRoberto Fierro of the Mexican ir Forceand served as an unarmed Loyalist reconnaissance ship during the SpanishCivil War. A Dewoitine pilot, unfamiliarwith the Seversky was flying the SEV-3 toBenolas, Spain when he nosed over onlanding. The field had been decimatedmoments before by Fascist bombers.

BERLINER-JOYCE P-16The B/J P-16 was a two-place, gu ll-wingbiplane fighter with a 600-hp CurtissConqueror engine. Henry Berlinerteamed with Temple Joyce to producethe .XP-16 prototype. Berliner had earlierdeveloped a helicopter that made a fewsuccessful, albeit short flights in 1924.The P-16 could carry five 25-pound bombsand the pilot fired two forward-firing .30


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Radtke Collection 733

LUSCOMBE PHANTOM PROTOTYPEThe November issue of THE VINTAGEAIRPLANE featured a story on LindaGambles and Doug ombs LuscombePhantom, 272Y. Doug says that his airplane was the last of about 20 Phantoms,but was built at the factory from the fuselage of the prototype, shown here. Designed to be mass-produced on stretchpresses, the Phantom gave way to thesimpler curves of the Model 8 when thepresses proved to be a failure.

ALEXANDER EAGLEROCK A-4The A-4 was the Hispano-Suiza (Hisso)powered Eaglerock - the last of theseries. Earlier Eaglerocks used the ubiquitous Curtiss OX-5 engine. The most significant difference in the fuselage wasthe nose-mounted radiator on the Hissomodel, contrasting the remote-mount,OX-5 unit, usually fitted between the mainlanding gear. Speaking of landing gear,how about those enormous Goodyear airwheels? The Alexander Aircraft Company


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The MeCabe Airplane:RevisitedMcCABE AIRPLANEADDENDA

The article on the 19 7 McCabeAeroplane publ ished in October, 1986VINTAGE AIRPLANE by GeneChase has brought forth a responsefrom one of our readers.

r. c.c. Ace Cannon (EAA 34,IC 7890) of Greenfie ld , IA paid avisit to the Dawson County Historica lSociety Museum in Lex ington, NE and


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Overall view from the left rear reveals the radicalposition of the wings and the look of a WW Ifighter plane. The 841 number on the wings hasnot been explained.

Powerplant is a Thor V-twin motorcycle engine of about 2 P converted for aircraft use.Brass wheel rubs on flywheel and drives thetachometer shaft. lthough a 4-stroke engine,oiling was possibly done with a total-losshand pump as on the motorcycle.

Side view of engine reveals magneto and push rodvalve system. Note drilled engine mount for lightness and flat pitch on the laminated propeller.


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The MeCabe Airplane:RevisitedVery husky pivot assembly is theonly mounting for the ailerons. Notethe profound camber of the underwing surface while the lower surfaceof the aileron is flat.

Landing gear seems to be a little flimsy,but is well designed and shows goodcraftsmanship. It is simple and of ac-cepted design for the period. Wheels are

bout 20 x 2 with the tire of wrappedhollow core, high pressure type with wirewheels covered for streamlining.


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Routing of the aileron cables is appar-ent along with the right handle con-trols of what appear to e a T handlethrottle, an ignition control and achoke. Note absence of instrumentsin the panel

Cockpit controls include rudder barmounted on firewall and control stickfor ailerons and stabilator. Cable endsare inserted into a double copper sleeveand twisted about three turns. For athimble, a small spring was threadedover the loop area before the splice ismade. Regular brass aircraft turnbuck-les are used for rigging purposes.


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GR K TREASUREPhotos of Oshkosh and the Shawano Fly-Out by the oldmaster, Ted Koston;


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Oshkosh 'SS

Pan Am pilot at controls.Passenger is his daughter.Names unknown

ill Rose's North American SNJ-5 flown by RichardLaumeyer, Teton Village, WY , with EAA photographer Ted Koston in rear seat. Photo taken by AlCphotographer Jack McCarthy from Bill Rose's 1944Grumman "Goose". Oshkosh 'SS


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FESTIVAL

With the w P k e d , we aregreeted by ftbtter (wlJh coffee C I I I It _ '1tOger Koplltz of~ w on the right. That's aJim Soares with my chop-pers" on his tender handsJohn Hatz hosts ski plane pilots on his Wisconsin

homestead stripT he laugh on the other end of thetelephone was unmistakeable. Identification was totally unnecessary Onl yJim had that genuine be lly laugh - andhe was happy. It was January, 1988,and the winter was in full swing."Reme mber the invi tation you madeto fly up to John Hatz's Skiplane Fly- In

by Norm Petersenowned for many years . Hi s supremedes ire in li fe is to fly an airplane onski s.At 3:30 Wed nesday afternoo n,Feb. 10th I met Jim and hi s love ly wife,Doro thy, both fresh from Montana, at

the Wittman Field Terminal and tookthem over to the local Super 8 Motelfo r check- in . They were exc ited aboutbeing in Oshkosh during the wintertime and havi ng a chance to spendsome time in the EAA museum . Thurs-


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The first item or a ski-plane fly-in is to warm the engine Jim Soares waits with anticipation as the small propane heater brings the glue-like oil up to running temperature.About 15 minutes does the job. Notice Jim has his leather gloves on at this early time.

day and Friday were put to excellentuse in really giving the EAA complexthe once-over with Jim and Dorothyquite awestruck by what they saw. Friday evening, they joined my wife,Loretta, and me for a delightful mealof Alaskan salmon steak - kindly sentdown by George and Ruby Pappas ofAnchorage, Alaska. (It just doesn t getany better than this ) We talked andvisited far into the night with an occasional airplane even thrown in Thestars were shining brightly as I droveJim and Dorothy back to the motel - aperfect omen for the next day .Bright and early Saturday morningFeb. 13th, I stopped by the motel topick up Jim and head out to EarlGrunska's airstrip. The weather wascold - but nice Luck was with usArriving at Earl's, we found GeorgeRotter warming the engine on hi s 85hp J-4 Cub Coupe. In just a few minutes, we transfered the small propaneheater to my J-3 Cub. A small 12-volt

primer until it would idle smoothly. Agood warm-up is essential at suchtemps so we let the engine idle forabout 10 minutes .Meanwhile, Geoge and Earl had theJ-4 all ready to go , engine ticking over,so we proceeded to stuff Jim into theback seat of the Cub. Now Jim Soaresis not a small man and he had takenmy suggestion and put on every pieceof clothing he owned Success was fi-nally achieved when he put hi s (large)boots on the rudder pedals and smiled.I then handed him a roll of 100-milean-hour duct tape with instructions totape up the cracks as we flew along

This would keep him busy, help us tokeep warm and give Jim something tolaugh about The entire roll only lastedabout 15 minutesWe broke the ski s loose (left andright rudder) and taxied out behindGeorge s Cub Coupe to the far end ofEarl's landing strip . The bright sun wasshining on the white snow which madesun glasses a necessity. We swung intothe wind, making the wide turn necesary on skis, and I hit full throttle. TheCub really came alive in the cold airand after a short run, was airborne andclimbing into the cool, crisp, winterair. Jim was totally amazed at the extremely short takeoff, even with twobig people on board .We turned northwest on the heels ofGeorge and Earl in the Cub Coupe andleveled off at I ,000 feet - not a ripplein the air. The winter landscape ofWisconsin was quite a treat to Jim withthe many fields and forests contrastedagainst the deep blue sky. Our coursewas 320 degrees on the compass whichwe solved by following George (letGeorge do it )

I could feel occasional tremors gothrough the airframe as we droned overNew London. This had me concernedfor a while until I discovered it wasJim shivering in the back seat Thesmall Arctic heater on the manifoldmerely kept my feet warm in the frontseat. There was nothing left to warmthe rear seat or its passenger Jim hadcovered nearly all the cracks in thedoor/window with duct tape and thenwrapped himself in a blanket I had


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taken along. He felt okay, but his feetwere coldThe J-4 Coupe was off the left wingas we passed Tigerton and Wittenberg ,making good time with almost zerowind conditions. Passing what Ithought was the last hi ghway on theway to John Hatz's airport, I began tolook for other aircraft and some familiar landmarks . Things didn't quite jibe .Just to be sure, I dropped down tocircle a water tower in the center of asmall town . A complete ci rcle revealedno name on the tower Strange Duringthe circle , George's J-4 Coupe had disappeared, my guess was he had spottedthe Hatz airport. We continued tosearch the area in bigger and biggercircles without success. I asked Jim toc heck the map in the seat pocket. Therewas none there (I suspected a conspiracy of sorts )Suddenly, I remembered a group ofpickups and cars parked near a dragstrip plowed out on a lake - just a fewmiles back. We retreated to th e southfor about eight minutes and soon located the pickups. Telling Jim we weregoing down, I pulled on carb heat andwe landed on the snow covered ice justbeside the drag strip. Many eyes wereon us Leaving the idling Cub with Jimat the controls, I wa lked over to thenearest threesome and asked whereJohn Hatz 's airstrip was. One fellowsaid, "About 25 miles due north." Ikind of sheepishl y thanked him andwalked back to the Cub. Jim had thatfunny (frozen) smirk on his face. " Inever would have believed this if Ihadn ' t seen it with my own eyes A

Checking out the author 's Cub is veteran pilot Bob Wylie (EAA 78593) of Wausau, WI.Bob flies a J-4 Cub Coupe on floats and also has a Taylorcraft BL-65.lost pilot, landing to ask where hewas "

I calmly explained to Jim that Cubpilots are never lost - just temporarilyconfused. Jim laughed so hard he feltwarmFull throttle on the 90 Continentaland th e Federal SC-I skis were climbing out of the snow in no time. Weheaded due north with considerably

more confidence . Before long , we hadpassed over th e Merrill-Antigo highway and I cou ld pick out Hatz'sairstrip. A white and blue AeroncaChamp on (on skis) pulled up alongside and the people took our picturebefore leading the way in to Hatz's .

Later, we found out it was SteveHartl's Champ from Neosho , Wisconsin.Following Steve on final , I madeone of those (famous) Petersen landings which even made Jim chuckle inthe back seat. We taxied over to theaircraft line and parked next to Steve'sChamp . A pretty red white SuperCub (flown by Earl Heyrman) parkednext to us as the arrivals were comingthick fast.Now came the big job . We had toget a frozen Jim Soares out of the backseat of the Cub Besides the abundanceof clothes , it was suspected he mighthave taped himself into the seat Wepulled and lifted , shoved and twisted ,and finally with much grunting &groaning, Jim was extracted from theseat and standing upright on the snowOnly the lure of steaming hot coffeeand a warm shop caused Jim to painfully put one frozen foot in fron t of theother and follow us along the line ofski-planes to John's shop. Eventually,


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Refueling a ski-plane requires a IiHle muscle work to get the machine up to the gaspump. Aeronca Champ on Federal skis is flown by Steve Hartl (EAA 306105, AlC 12315)from Neosho, WI.

with these people . Even Jim Soares,who was pretty well thawed out by thi stime, admitted these Wisconsin peoplewere the friendliest he had ever comeacross. And the feeling among thegroup was unanymous: Anybody crazyenough to come all the way from Montana to attend John Hatz's Ski-planeFly-In couldn ' t be all bad

The lengthening shadows beside theairplanes meant it was soon time tohead for home. I taxied the Cub to the(auto) gas pump and refueled for thetrip home. With help from several bystanders, we swung the Cub around andcleared the area for the next airplane.After saying goodbye to all the goodpeople , especially John BerdinaHatz, many old friends and a bunch ofnew ones, we coaxed Jim into the backseat of the Cub and I fired up the engine. We taxied out in trail with somesix ski-planes ahead. One by one, theytook off to the west and before long,it was our tum . I firewalled the throttleand the Cub responded in the cold air.

afternoon sun glistening on the yellowCub. Jim admitted he had never flownthis close to nature in the wintertimeIt was exhilarating, to say the leastExiting the mouth of the Wolf River,we skimmed over Lake Poygan at fourfeet above the frozen surface . LakeWinneconne was next and before long ,we climbed to 1000 feet over the shore ,heading east toward Earl's . Jim felt thatwith a bit of luck, we would make ithome just before he froze to death

George and Earl were putting the J-4Cub Coupe in the hangar as we circledand came in for a smooth landing onthe snow-covered runway , the skismaking a "sw ish" noise to indicate we

were on the ground (Petersen , youlucked out again ) Although prettywell frozen, Jim was grinning from earto ear as we taxied up to the hangarand shut the engine down . I jumpedout and started the pickup to get thecab warmed up - in case we were ableto extricate Jim from the back seat ofthe CubAfter teasing Jim with thoughts ofhot coffee, hot tea, hot tub and a Finni sh sauna, he made the supreme effortalong with a little pulling and tuggingon our part, and managed to move hisice-cold body to the cab of the pickup.The rest of us pushed the Cub into thehangar and tied it down . I hurried tothe pickup and drove Jim to the motelwith instructions to get in the motelhot tub.

t must have worked because Jim'swife, Dorothy, reported that once Jimwas "cooked" for about an hour in thehot tub, the pale blue color turned topink and Jim was his old self againShe also reported he slept like a baby,completely exhausted from the toughjob of flying all day.After a Sunday of going to church,visiting the Oshkosh area and spendingsome more time in the EAA museum,Jim and Dorothy stopped by Mondaymorning to wish us "Good Bye" andmany thanks for a most interestingvisit. Jim was still talking about skiflying as they boarded the airliner forMontana Really great people. We hadconcentrated so much fun into such ashort time , it almost hurt to see JimDorothy leave. But one thing you cancount on - we will be together again .


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WELCOME NEWMEMBERSThe following is a partial listing of n w members who have joined the EAA Antique/Classic Division (through September 181988). We are honored to welcome them into the organization whose members common interest is vintage aircraft. Succeedingissues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE will contain additional listings of new members.

Abbott, Dudley L.Homer, AlaskaAllan, JanAskrikevagen, SwedenAlston, James S.Plymouth, MassachusettsAman, Gary A.Akron. OhioAment, FrankSandwich, IllinoisArmbrust, Douglas R.Greensburg, PennsylvaniaArmstrong, S. StanleyNew Smyrna Beach, FloridaBell Jr. James R.Roanoke, TexasBissonette, Bruce E.EI Paso, TexasBodinar, JohnVictoria, AustraliaBoettcher, JamesEnon, OhioBortman, RalphAgaura, CaliforniaBreand, Andre

Carr Donald A.Saratoga, CaliforniaCase, James AlticeIndian River. MichiganChapin Jr. Robert W.Edgewater. MarylandConley, Kenneth E.Cookeville. TennesseeCoughlin, Timothy J.Indianapolis, IndianaCoussens, JohnFort Worth, TexasDavidson, Donald C.Nashua. New Hampshiree Vries, RobertJamaica, New York

Dullenkopf, DouglasSanta Paula, CaliforniaEgbert, Frank M.Los Altos, CaliforniaEhrenstrom, IngemarOsterskar, SwedenElkins Jr. Walter L.Lake Charles, LouisianaEllis, T.L.

Farinha, ChristopherAuburn. CaliforniaFerron, ArthurManchester, ConnecticutFoster, Geoffrey E.Santa Barbara, CaliforniaFrumkin, Mark S.Hazelton. PennsylvaniaGambrell, RobertColumbia, South CarolinaGillespie, BobSilver Springs. MarylandGraver, Gary WilliamMountain View, CaliforniaGrundeman Sr., Fred D.Scandinavia, WisconsinGygax, LarryWaukesha, WisconsinHall, Rowland L.Northfield, IllinoisHeadley, Thomas B.Madison, AlabamaHeard, DanJackson, MississippiHenry, William E.

Hower, LinnIdaho Falls, IdahoInt'l. Civil Aviation Org.Montreal, Quebec. CanadaJablonski, Richard A.Burlington, ConnecticutKass, AllanBig Sky. MountanaKennedy, KenPurcell, OklahomaKess, Raymond P.Pembine, WisconsinKitts, JamesMansfield, OhioKnowles, BillPalestine, TexasKrause, Bobby G.Kerman. CaliforniaKraynak, Michael G.Haverhill, MassachusettsLarsen, Paul E.Spring Hill, FloridaLerch, RalphBoone, North CarolinaLeuthauser, J.R.


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THE FORGOTTENROCKNE CRASH

by Lt. Colonel Boardman C Reed,USAF Retired(EAA 85470, IC 1069)

N ow only dimly remembered by afew old-timers, what was then knownas "The Rockne Crash" brought aboutmajor changes in American civil aviation . Some of the effects of the longforgotten Rockne Crash are still withus, even today .The airlines, as we know them, wereonly a very few years old . . . "justlearning to crawl," as it were. Airlineequipment was extremely primitive tomodem eyes. Big biplane airlinerssuch as the Boeing 80-As or CurtissCondors-were almost as common asmonoplanes. Speeds and altitudes werenot much different from light trainers

6-cent air-mail. This was the era of"The Rockne Crash" and this wasairline travel at the very beginning ofthe Great Depression at the openingof the 1930s decade .But some things never changethen, as now, there were airline mergers, and this particular merger alsohad a bearing on the Rockne Crash. Anew but powerful latecomer, Transcontinental Air Transport (T AT), hadbegun operations on July 8, 1929 witha fleet of beautiful new Ford Trimotorson an "air-rail," 48-hour schedule between Los Angeles and New York.Passengers slept in speeding railroadPullman cars on the two nights andflew during the two days. The secondairline was Maddux Airlines, whichbegan flying smaller and older FordTrimotors on November 2, 1927 out ofLos Angeles.

plywood-covered wings with sprucespars and ribs, and a tail skid; the morenumerous F-IOAs had a tail wheel. TheFord Trimotor was an obvious copy ofthe Fokker, except for its all-metalconstruction . At the time, few wouldhave believed that the beautiful Fokkers would be completely extinct, except for a couple in museums, withinten years, while a few rugged Fordswould still be flying over half a centurylater including EAA's beautifulNC8407.Transcontinental Air Transport(TAT) completed a merger with Maddux and Western Air Express and onOctober I, 1930 Transcontinental andWestern Air (TWA) came into existence . (TWA changed its name toTrans World Airlines in 1945). Western Air Express, however, retained oneshort route (and later expanded again)


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gines. Six passengers were manifested ,only half filling the 12-place cabin . .. but one had a change of plans at thelast minute. Knute Rockne took hisplace .Knute K Rockne was a well-knownand highly respected household namein America through the 1920s. Born in1888 in Norway, he came to the UnitedStates at the age of five, entered NotreDame University at 22, became achemistry instructor and assistant football coach and finally head footballcoach in 1918 . Rockne quickly becamefamous as the greatest football coachof all time, with his emphasis on goodsportsmanship and tactics such as theforward pass. His Fighting Irish football teams won a spectacular 105games, losing only 12 others and tyingfive . His "Four Horsemen of NotreDame" were the greatest and best knowteam players in the history of collegefootball .It was overcast and humid in KansasCity when NC999E took off onschedule at 9:15 a.m. with a total ofeight people on board, including thepilots. The copilot also doubled as thesteward, serving box lunches, coffeefrom a thermos and chewing gum tohelp pop the passengers' ears. CaptainFry held the big Fokker low, maintaining CFR (Contact Flight Rules)through a fast-moving weather fronteast of Wichita, their first stop . It musthave been a rough ride. What we nowcall "scud-running" was a normalroutine for airliners as recently as haIfa-century ago . and just as dangerous.Excerpts from the Department ofCommerce Aeronautics Branch (predecessor of the CAA and FAA) preliminary report, pick up the story. Atapproximately 10:35 a.m. the airplaneradioed to the Wichita radio station tolearn how the weather was at thatpoint. Wichita replied that the weatherconditions there were satisfactory forflying and inquired of the pilots as to

watches on three of the occupants hadstopped at times varying between10:45 and 10 :50, indicating that thecrash occurred at perhaps 10:47 orthereabouts, or approximately two tothree minutes after the last radio communication was received from theairplane."Eyewitnesses to the crash advisedthe investigators that the airplane wentinto a dive of approximately 55 degreesand that a section of wing from theoutboard engine was missing. Thiswing section was seen in the air floating down somewhat like a piece ofpaper and was found approximately aquarter of a mile away from thecrashed airplane .

'The investigators were advised thatice had collected on the entering edgeof the airplane wing on the flight inquestion, and it is, therefore, assumedthat ice had also collected around thehub of the propeller. It is possible thata substantial piece of ice may have broken loose from the hub and been struckby one of the propeller blades, resulting in the breakage of the blade."With one blade thus broken, the resultant shock to the entire structure wasprobably transmitted through the bracestruts . Such a shock would havebeen sufficient to have broken the propeller hub and to have caused the wingrupture ."There were other theories aboutwhat caused the wing to break off, andalso subsequent and more complete accident reports. Readers wishing greaterdetails and photographs are referred toAmerican Aviation Historical SocietyJournals (Fall/Winter 1983, Summer1984, Spring 1985, Fall 1986).The sudden death of Knute Rockneand seven others in the crash of TWAFlight 5 on March 31, 1931, in a fieldnear Bazaar, Kansas , caused not one ,but three very large, separate and distinct shock-waves in American life.One shock wave was in the sportsworld. Rarely, if ever, has the death

causes of his accident, and mournedKnute Rockne. A movie was made ofhis life . There was a Rockne automobile . And there still is a RockneMemorial on the exact spot of thecrash , in a remote, hard-to-find fieldnear Bazaar, Kansas.The third shock wave was not as predictable, perhaps, but infinitely longerlasting in its effects . . . the field ofcommercial aviation. Airplanes hadbeen crashing from the beginning, andas they grew larger, there was ofcourse , a larger loss of life , sometimesconsiderably more than was lost inNC999E. Never before 'The RockneCrash" (as it soon came to be known),however, and not until over half a century later has an airliner crash causedsuch an impact on commercial aviation, or such a public outcry: A. TheDepartment of Air Commerce temporarily "grounded" all FokkerTrimotors , the first general airlinergrounding by type, in history. TheU.S. Government soon establishednew safety rules and regulations for allcivil aircraft that, in greatly expandedform , even private pilots are still livingwith today. B. In a very real way because of the Rockne Crash-togetherwith other business problems, theeconomic Depression, the stronger allmetal Ford Trimotors, and the soon-tofly more modem Boeing 247-theFokker Aircraft Corporation ofAmerica, by then controlled by General Motors, soon disappeared. And CBecause of the Rockne Crash, themajor airlines feared public resistanceto flying in that type of aircraft. Theterm "trimotor" even made the oldFord airliner suspect. The major airlines all wanted new equipment, butUnited Air Lines had monopolized thenew Boeing 247 production line. Therewas nothing else available. TWA,badly stung by the Rockne publicity,asked several aircraft companies for anentirely new design and the rest iswell-known history. A little company


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PASS T 101]n information exchange column with input from readers

by Buck HilbertEAA 21, Ale 5)P.0 Box 145Union, IL 60180

Things are heating up here at theFunny Farm. With the advent of thewinter-ee weather it seems people arespending more time indoors and thinking more about their airplanes. I've hadseveral calls this month. Jim MorganEAA 4229 from the Kansas City area,an old acquaintance from my Ryan PTdays at the Dacy Airport, called to say

one fel\a wants for his Fairchild 22 project.And; speaking of wants and whatnots, I m beginning to realize I havepassed up the best deal going. That"Best" Deal is the Vintage Trader inour magazine THE VINTAGEAIRPLANE. Hey, for five bucks a guycan tell all our members what his needs

Thereupon we embarked upon a veryexpensive and time-consuming searchin an attempt to find a Continental C145 or an early 0-300 with an eightbolt flange. I'll bet we ve invested better than $200.00 in telephone calls, andwhat's the date? We haven't hit paydirtyet This telephone campaign started'cause we thought we d save time.Well, guess again I think we'l l putthat five dollar ad in Vintage Trader.Vintage Trader is a direct pipeline tothe really hard-core, interested members of our organization . It weeds outa lot of the speculator types, too, andgets right to the heart of the matter withpeople who have the same interest,likes and dislikes as you do.

I know The time involved is a bigstumbling block. With the lead timefor publication being before the fifteenth of one month there is no possible way you'll get any action before 30or even 45 days, but shucks We vebeen on the phone since the third weekin August and we ve contacted lessthan one percent of the people whoread THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE. It ' slooking better to me all the time. I mgonna try it

I m just home from the OctoberBoard meeting up at HQ. This was anespecially rewarding time becauseafter each division had its meetings wemet for a huge joint session. More than100 attending directors and officersfrom our division, Warbirds, lAC, The


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leaders like Tom and Paul Pobereznyare in action. I just wish all of youcould be there! But then again, youARE! You ' ve got your division officers and directors who are your reps.You ' ll find their names and addressesin THE VINTAGE AIRPLANEmasthead. Give them a chance to frontfor you if you've got something onyour mind. They'll do it Our newpresident " Butch" Joyce is a real jewel,too . This past meeting was my firstopportunity to work with him and geta little insight as to hi s way of doingthings. He may be a so ft- spoken southern boy , but he 's good!One of the subjects we kickedaround, with Ben Owen-Tech directorand Fred Cailey-IAC , was a concernof everyone who may fly or own one.The Citabria-Decathalon series ofairplanes. I haven ' t exact numbers onthis, but there have been several fa tal s" as a result of overstressing themachines. Thi s gives me qualms because I was one of the people who shotdown the NPRM when the FAAwanted a mandatory spar inspection . Iwas really in a quandry wondering ifwe 'd made a mistake defeating theNPRM .We ll , as it turns out. The "fa ilures"to date have not been in the area theNPRM targeted to be inspected, butjust about a foot outboard of the wingattach fitting or outboard of the strutattach fitting . The se have all been theresult of overloads, in the opinion ofthe FAA investigators . EAA staffmember , Ben Owen, helped me withthis investigation , and this comes direct from hi s FAA source .

Overloads? What's causing them?Are the guys trying to make a Pittsout of a Citabria or a Decath? Well,maybe! But the two I'm most familiarwith don t read that way. The finalfinding has not been officially releasedyet , but I can tell you that the scenariolooks something like this.

be, fell into the back sea t shoving therear stick a ll the way AFT!What a way to end the scene . . .Let' s te ll all the owners and pilots ofthese machines to fly them within theirlimits and to g ive that seat back a rea lonce over--often!

VFR DIRECT IN ATAYLORCRAFTDear Buck ,

Just read your October co lumn andwanted you to know I recently did mylong cross cou ntry (for my privatelicense) using VFR direct. I had to! Idid it in my '40 Taylorcraft BL-6S. twas an experience all right! Six hoursat 1,500 feet, 90-degree temperaturesand I got passed by three National

"Hey,for five bucksa guy cantell whathis needs

are."Guard helicopters I wouldn't tradethat experience for ANYTHING!Sincerely,Ted JonesSouth Haven , MichiganHi Ted,Sure nice ot hea r from you, espe-cially since you do MY kind of fly in , .I had a T-Cart once, a '46 BC I. Itonly had one door on the passenger

Dear Buck ,I enjoyed your co lumn in theNovember issue but it left one questionin my mind . What are you go ing to doto correct the sticking valve problemin your engine, or is Mogas and Mystery Oi l the final solution?I am not tryi ng to be a wi se guy butonly searching for information as anA&P mechanic with a recently acquired license. I am not familiar wi thnor were we exposed to thepec uliar ities of the LeBlond eng ine atour schoo l.I also thought it was gratify ing toread about the peopl e who were willingto help in your time of need . Maybe itwould be a good idea for our organi zation to solicit on a regular basis fromthe readers the names of people whohave helped them in their time of needand publish these names as a "GoodSamaritan" column. It would be asmall recognition to the person or firmwho helped out and at the same timegenerate some pos itive news when virtually everything we see, read or hearfrom the media is so negative . It mayalso encourage other people to be morehelpful.Sincerely yours,Franci s Krieger /C 9207)Hello Fran,Appreciate your letter and the question you ask regarding the final solution to the dry valve problems on theLeBlond . This is not the only "old"engine that suffers the same problem.Th e Marvel-Outboard-Two-cycle 50to-one mix of seven ounces to 10 gallons offuel, preferably the leaded regular as used in that day, is the onlysolution other than one being used bysome of the antiquers as a supplement.Th is involves pulling all the va lvesat top overhaul and having a specialtyhouse apply a mollybidinium sulfidecoating to the stems. This coating ap


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fide , but the ceramic can be built upto almost any depth (thickness) de-sired. The valve guide then must bereamed to the proper clearance .Sure nice to hearfrom you . f'm sureyou understand why I can' t recom-mend or reveal a source for the abovemethods . I think your suggestion to putthe Good Guys in print where allwould know and meet them is a goodone. Meanwhile , it's always a pleasureto hear from a fellow mechanic who isat lea st interested in learning aboutold world technology. We are in thecomputer age and the $30,000 diag-nostic interpreter for the computerreadout that they need to tune up anew Ford or Chevy just ain 't availablefor these old airplane engines. Welearn from experience and we try topass it on so the next guy will have anidea where to start.Over to youBuck

The fo llowing is a section from anoriginal LeBlond service manual. Thetext and diagrams may be of interest tofans of old world engines such as theLeBlond:

ubrication System

The oil tank should haveat least two gallons capacityand should be located insuch a manner as to insuresome air circulation aroundi t during warm weather. t is

or metal from reaching thepump. The scavenging or return line should either enterthe tank from the top, orthrough a stand pipe i f itshould prove more convenient to make the connectionat the bottom. A standard4-inch pipe tap is provided inthe gear case to attach a pipefor venting the oil tank intothe engine. This will insureagainst loss of oil from thetank either in maneuvers orthrough expansion .

I doubtthat the FAAwouldapprove,but itdoes work"Both pressure andscavenging oil lines should

be 5/8-inch I D., being attached to the connections onthe pump through a flexible

pleasant but may prove extremely serious at times.

The pressure line to thegauge is 1I4-inch O.D., a 1/8pipe thread for a standardSAE pipe connection beingprOvided at the rear of thegear case. The gauge shouldbe able to register pressuresup to 120 psi. The usual careshould be exercised ineliminating the possibility ofa broken line.All oil connections shouldbe made tight to prevent possible leaks as the pump willotherwise not function properly. When the connectionson the pump are placed in adesirable position and the oilpressure is found satisfactory, everything should besafetied by lock wires.

There is no necessity to install an oil cooler or radiatoras the heat given to the oil bythe engine is not excessive.The oil will cool itself in theengine and return line or ina tank of sufficient capacity i fthe required amount of aircirculation is permitted.Every air-cooled engineshould be equipped with anoil thermometer as this is theonly simple means by whichthe engine temperature canbe recorded in an airplane.Care should be used when


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7(JLEBLOND 85


29/36

FomhLBosvcma

VNTGEARPAE


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V I ~ T A ~ L I T ~ I A T U I ~THREE EARLY CLASSICS OF AERONAUTICAL LITERATUREBy the last decade of the 19th Centurythe leadership in aeronautical research hadshifted to the United States . In Europe Lilienthal was dead and researchers did littleto share data or co-operate with oneanother.In America under the leadership of Octave Chanute serious aeronautical researchers were able to keep in contact with oneanother. Chanute and other leaders, primarily, James Means in Boston and SamuelLangley in Washington, spread the wordof progress in research through publicationsthat have become classics of aeronuaticalliterature. These publications were some ofthe main source materials used by theWright Brothers in their pursuit of poweredflight.When Wilbur Wright communicatedwith the Smithsonian Institution in 1899wishing to avail himself of "all that is already known" concerning the problem ofmechanical flight , the institution recommended three books for study . These were:PROGRESS IN FLYING MACHINES byOctave Chanute , THE AERO NAUTICALANNUAL edited by James Means and EXPERIMENTS IN AERODYNAMICS bySamuel P. Langley .

OCTAVE CHANUTEPROGRESS IN FLYING MACHINESNew York, 1894, 308 p. Reprinted byLorenz Herweg, 1976.This book was a compilation of a seriesof 27 articles that had appeared in theAmerican Engineer and Railroad Journalfrom October, 89 to November, 1893.Chanute, one of America ' s leading civilengineers, was nearly 64 years old when

from the sand dunes of Indiana east ofChicago where over 300 flights were made.The main value of Chanute's book wasthe detailed survey of prior developmentson the road to powered flight from the likesof Henson and Stringfellow to his contemporaries: Hargrave, Lilienthal and Langley.His concluding chapter was a summary ofthe theories covered in the book along withhis comments on how the informationcould be used to "conduce a possible solution of the problem of aviation ."The two problems he thought to be themost difficult to solve for successful powered flight were the development of a motorand the ability for the aircraft to maintainequilibrium.

JAMES MEANSTHE AERONAUTICAL ANNUAL, Boston, 1895 , 1896, 1897 .Of less technical stature than Chanute,but important in this time period was JamesMeans. Means was a shoe manufacturerwho gave up his business when he had

amassed enough money for his family tolive on and then devoted his energies to thestudy and promotion of aeronautics.Although Means studied bird flight , andbuilt kites and gliders , his greatest influence was in disseminating the aeronauticalinformation provided in his three annuals.Means believed that by publishing the information "it might bring experimenters together, thus preventing waste of effort."He collected and edited the most significant papers he could find on past and current developments. His contributors included Lilienthal, Chanute , Hargrave,Langley and others. He also provided a service by reprinting the classic. British papers

of Cayley and Wenham.

SAMUEL PIERPONT LANGLEYEXPERIMENTS IN AERODYNAMICSWashington DC, 89The first major figure in Americanaeronautics, Samuel P. Langley wastrained in architecture and civil engineeringbut later turned to astronomy and astrophysics. His interest in aeronautics datedfrom the time he read a paper presented ata meeting of the American Association forthe Advancement of Science.From 1887 until his death in 1906 hewas Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution . After years of experiment he successfully demonstrated heavier-than-air flightin 1896 with the flight of a steam poweredtandem wing model aircraft. A full sizeversion of the "Aerodrome" was completedin 1902 but failed to achieve flight.He started serious investigation of flightin 1887, when he constructed a whirlingarm 60 feet in diameter to test flat planes,in order to "demonstrate experimentallycertain propositions in aerodynamics whichprove that such flight under proper directions practicable ."His work is reported in EXPERIMENTSIN AERODYNAMICS . He concluded thatone horsepower could sustain over 200pounds in the air at a horizontal speed ofsomewhat over 60 feet per second.The book is important in that it fullydocuments not only the results of the experiments, but the conditions of the experiments . t provides detailed tables of resultsand drawings of both the test apparatus andof the measuring devices.

Langley s work plotting angle of attackof the test planes against pressure was ableto verify earlier formulas for predicting liftand drag for lifting planes . He believed hiswork "demonstrated that we already possess in the steam engine as now constructed, or in other heat engines, more


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MEMBERSHIPINFORMATIONEAAMembership in the ExperimentalAircraft Association, Inc. is $30.00for one year, including 12 issues ofSport Aviation. Junior Membership(under 9 years of age) is availableat $18.00 annually. Family Membership is available for an additional$10.00annually.

ANTIQUE/CLASSICSEAA Member - $18.00. Includesone year membership in EM Antique-Classic Division, 12 monthlyissues of ThB Vintage Airplane andmembership card. Applicant mustbe a current EM member and mustgiveEM membership number.Non-EAA Member - $28.00. In-cludes one year membership in theEAA Antique-Classic Division, 12monthly issues of The Vintage Air-plane, one year membership in theEM and separate membershipcards. Sport Aviation not included.

lACMembership in the IntemationalAerobatic Club, Inc. is $25.00 annually which includes 12 issues ofport AerobBtJcs. All lAC membersare required to be members of EM.WARBIRDSMembership in the Warbirds ofAmerica, Inc. is $25.00 per year,which includes a subscription toWarblrds. Warbird members arerequired to be members of EAA.

EAA EXPERIMENTEREM membership and EAA EXPERIMENTER magazine is available for$28.00 per year (Sport Aviat ion notincluded). Current EAA membersmay receive EAA EXPERIMENTERfor $18.00 per year.

S\f\ A\']THE JOURNAl OFHE AIRPlANE 19201 940

leo Opdycke , EditorW.W .1 AERO (1900-1919), and SKYWAYS (1920-1940):our two Journals , which contain : information on current projects historical research news o f museums and airshow5 workshop notes technical drawings, data information on paint and color photographs aeroplanes . engines, parts for sale scale mOdelling mater ial PLUS: your wants and disposals news 01 current publ ic at io ns 01 all kinds PLUS more ..

Sample copies $4 each.Published by WORLD WAR 1 C J . e t . ~ INC.

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25c per word, 20 word mini mum. Send your ad toThe Vintage Trader, WIHman AirfieldOshkosh, WI 54903-2591 .

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PLANS:POBER PIXIE - VW powered parasol - unlimitedin low-cost pleasure flying. Big , roomy cockpit forthe over six foot pilot. VW power insures hard tobeat 3 12 gph at cruise setting. 15 large instructionsheets. Plans - $60.00. Info Pack - $5.00. Sendcheck or money order to: ACRO SPORT, INC.,Box 462, Hales Corners, WI 53130. 414/529-2609.

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MISCELLANEOUS:Miscell aneous OX-5 Parts, Swallow Biplane control surfaces, PT-19 engine panels , and misce llaneous, 200 Ibs. small parts, Penguin trainer. Phi lStier, 414/394-3431. (1-89)Have We Got A Part for You! 20 years accumulation 01 parts for all types of aircraft - antiques,classics, homebuilts, warbirds . Everything from thespinner to the tail wheel. Air Sa lvage of Arkansas,Rt. I , Box 8020, Mena, AR 71953, phone 501 /3941022 or 501 /394-2342. (3-2/579111 )CUSTOM EMBROIDERED PATCHES. Made tosuit your design, any size, shape, colors. Fivepatch minimum. Free random sample andbrochure. Hein Specialties, 4202P North Drake,Chicago, IL 60618-1113. (c-2/89)1910-1950 Aviation items for sale - helmets,goggles, instruments, manuals, everything originaland old. 44-page catalog available , $5 .00 . Airmailed. Jon Ald rich, POB-706, Airport, Groveland,CA 95321. (1-89/5)WANTED:Wanted: Cowling for 1939 Pre-war Aeronca ChiefS-65C with top exhausts. Need nose bowl, thebaffling that goes around cylinders, also lower onepiece. Need good pants, have junk now. 712/262


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"The Odyssey of Amelia Earhart"

THE BUILDING OF VOYAGER$49.95The complete, in-depth story of one ofaviation's greatest achievements the non-stop, non-refueled flightaround the world by Voyager - andthe dedicated crew that made it possible. Narrated by Cliff Robertson, thisrevealing tape takes you behind thescenes to recount every aspect in theamazing saga of this incredible doit-yourself high tech" accomplishment. VHS 21-36421; Beta 21-36422;8mm 21-36853.

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by George A. Hardie, Jr

The manufacturer of thi s aircraftwas well known in the 1930s. Thephoto was submitted by GeorgeGoodhead of Tulsa, Oklahoma, dateand location not given. An swers willbe published in the April, 1989 issueof THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE.Deadline for that issue is February 10 ,1989.The Mystery Plane in the October,1988 issue brought some interesting responses . Jack McRae of HuntingtonStation, New York identified it as follows:When I saw the October MysteryPlane I couldn't resist looking it up inthe Civil Register. From January I ,1935 list it seems to be the LandisEarle, 2 PCLM Ser. No. W Mfg.1934; Engine Cirrus 90 HP, George LLandis, 4633 Cramer St. , Milwaukee,Wi s. I couldn't find it in the 1936 Register so it may not have been aroundvery long .John Underwood of Glendale,California submitted the following :The mystery plane featured in the October issue is the Landis Earle 101,built in Milwaukee in 1934. It had a90 Cirrus and accommodated two sideby side. No washout in the short spantapered wing must have made for aworrisome stall.R could have been applied for anumber of uses other than racing, suchas ag work, predator control, topo/survey, etc .

side-by-side seating. The new fuselagewas welded at the Milwaukee PartsCorp. by Earle Blodgett , a partner inthe project (hence the Landis-Earlename. George Landis was a photographer and intended to use theairplane for aerial photo work . As JohnUnderwood surmised, its performancewas marginal and eventually theairplane was sold. Cliff Gould of Milwaukee remembers the airplane wasunofficially named the QuiveringQuail. He'd like to locate the presentaddress of Earle Blodgett since heworked with him at Milwaukee Parts.Incidentally , the photos were acquired at a local flea market and givento the EAA library. No one could inde

ner that he should take steps to protecthis designs. Kinner, preoccupied withhi s engines, took no action, possiblybecause he had already so ld the Airsterdesign rights to Crown Coach . Theyoung lady was none other thanAmelia Earhart.The Airster had an all-wood airframe and Bourdon wanted steel tubefuselage and a more reliable engine.Frank Kurt, newly graduated fromMIT , was hired to replicate the Airster.He was also the test pilot and salesmanager. Frank went on to greaterthings under the aegis of Robert Gross,who reorganized the Bourdan Company under the Viking label. Seaplaneswere always Frank 's great love and he


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Vintage Airplane - Jan 1989

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