Vintage Airplane - Oct 2007
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tthis writing I again find myself
pulling volunteer duty with EM's B-17
Bomber
Tour.
This time, my trip began
in
New Jersey. As I was flying commer
cial into Newark, we passed by
the is-
land
of
Manhattan in
New
York
City.
I t
is
always a warm and reassuring feel-
ing to see my girlfriend just off shore,
with her
torch
still flying
high
over
head. She appeared
as
beautiful
as
ever,
forever symbolizing the freedoms this
great
nation
stands for. Again, I have
had the
joy of befriending dozens
of
EAA
and VAA
members all over these
United States. This weekend we are in
the "Queen City" of Cincinnati, Ohio,
being hosted by Warbird Squadron 18.
This is a great bunch of
folks, and
they
have proven to be wonderful hosts
to
the bomber and its crew.
When
you receive this issue of Vin-
tage Airplane EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
2007 will be but a memory to those of
us
who
were fortunate enough
to
at
tend. It was really a great show.
One
of the most surprising and heartwarm
ing statistics I will share with you is the
fact
that
we, the VM, attracted an all
time record-high number of volunteers
at this year's event.
Be
mindful
that
I
am referring only to those deeply dedi
cated individuals who, over
the
previ
ous 12 months, have volunteered more
than 24,000 hours
of
total
volunteer
time to further
the
success of our fine
organization. It is with great pride that
I report to the membership of
the
VM
that
we
had
more than 500 individu
als volunteer at AirVenture during the
2007 event. That's a great
number
by
itself,
but
another amazing element to
this wonderful success story is
the
fact
that the total
number
of
volunteers
continues to climb by 8 percent to 10
GEOFF RO ISON
PRESI D T VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCI ATION
AirVenture
2007
percent
each year. The word
is
really
getting
out about how much
fun
and
personal satisfaction can be had
when
volunteering. Start
planning
for
next
year:
You
gotta be there."
I
have
had
the
joy
of befriending
dozens of EAA
and VAA members
all
over
these
United States
As most of you are aware, each year
the
VAA
board
of
directors
makes a
special effort to reward and recognize
these special members,
and
it is there
fore my pl
easure
to announce this
year's VAA Volunteers of the Year."
Please join me in recognizing our 2007
Flightline Volunteer of the Year,
Mr. A
Hallett of West Chicago, Illinois. Al has
been volunteering with
the VM
flight
line for more
than
five years now,
and
he continuously has proven himself to
be an extremely valued member of
the
flightline crew. AI, thank you for your
dedication
and
tireless efforts to assist
us
in providing our membership with a
great convention each year.
We
also recognize a VAA
Behind
the
Scenes
Volunteer of the Year."
With tremendous
gratitude we high
light
the "behind the
scenes" efforts of
Steve Moyer
of
Lansdale, Pennsylva
nia, for his
support of the
VAA.
Steve
is a longtime volunteer
who
has
many
talents that go a long way in providing
some very special support to our VAA
volunteers. Steve works
in
the Vintage
data
shack (as well as
being
a terrific
help
as a
photographer)
and
pumps
out
a great nimber of quality products
in support of our organization
and
his
fellow volunteers.
While
on the
topic of this
year's
event,
the
post-AirVenture assessment
of all the activities in
the
Vintage area
reveals
an enormous
amount
of
suc
cess. I tend
not
to
measure
our suc
cesses solely
in
dollar
amounts,
as it
is
more productive to assess what I see
as
the true measure of these successes:
the
results of
watching and
listening
to
as many
attendees
as we can.
One
particularly notable
improvement
we
observed,
and
were particularly pleased
about, was this year's Vintage Aircraft
Awards presentation in
the
Theater in
the Woods on Saturday night.
I personally fielded at least a half
dozen strong and oftentimes emotional
remarks complimenting the division
on this much-improved program
and
its presenters. One of our long-tenured
VAA board members informed me im
mediately after the
event
that
he
has
never missed our awards program since
its inception back in the 1970s, and he
had never seen the program conducted
as
well
as
this year's program. Many de
served
thanks
are offered to everyone
who had a part in this success, includ
ing
EM and
VM staff, the board of di
rectors,
and
the
many
volunteers
who
had a
hand
in
the
solid improvements
to this program this year. I know what
a home
run
looks like, and based on
the many positive remarks we heard,
it's apparent
that
we smacked this one
out
of the park!
As
a matter of course, we always re
continued on p ge
8
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LANE
OCTOBER
35, No. 10
2007
ONTENTS
Straight Level
AirVenture 2007
by Geoff Robison
2
News
5 Aeromail
6
Amazing AirVenture 2007
A vintage year for friends and airplanes
by H.G. Frautschy
6 The Remarkable Bucker Bestmann
A delight in flight!
by Sparky Barnes Sargent
4
Benny Howard's Racers Return
The resurrection of Benny Howard's Giant Killers, Mike nd Ike
by Karl D. Engelskirger
8 What's New for Vintage Pilots
The Vintage Instructor
.
shall become familiar with all available information ..
1
by Doug Stewart
Type Club Notes
The Technical Corner-Instrument Systems
As
originally published in Travel Air
Log
the
newsletter of
the
Travel
Air
Restorers Association
by Robert G. Lock
6
Mystery Plane
by H.G. Frautschy
7
EAA s New Reach for the Sky E-Newsletter
Helping people start making their dreams of flight a reality
8 Calendar
9
Classified
Ads
OVERS
COVER: An
unusual angle for this shot highlights the strongly tapered wings of this
Bu 181 Bestmann, restored and flown here in the United States by Richard Epton. De-
by
Anders
J.
Andersson, the Bestmann has long been known as one
of
the great training
of
its
day.
See Sparky Barnes' story
of
Epton and his Bestmann beginning on page 16.
COVER: High over the broken clouds
of
the north-central Midwest, Skip Holm pilots the
Rider R 4 replica racer, the Schoenfeldt Firecracker as
it
rockets along amongst the cloud
Wathen Foundation, was one of the aircraft featured in
of the VAA Red Barn Hospitality center. For more on this year's VAA activities during EM
2007
please see the article beginning on page 6.
photos by
EM
Chief Photographer Jim Koepnick.
EAA Publisher
Tom
Poberezny
Director
of
EAA Publications David Hipschman
Executive
Director/Editor
H.G. Frautschy
Executive Assistant
Jillian
Rooker
Managing
Editor
Kathleen
Witman
News
Editor
Ric Reynolds
Photography
Jim
Koepnick
Bonnie
Kratz
Advertising
Coordinator Sue
Anderson
Classified Ad
Coordinator
Daphene VanHullum
Copy Editor
Colleen Walsh
Director
of Advert ising Katrina Bradshaw
Display Advertising Representatives:
No rtheast: Allen Murray
Phone 856·229·7180,
F X
856·229·7258, e·mail: aJ/mmlirraK 'lIl illd
sprillg.com
Southeast: Ch
este
r Baumgartner
Phone 727·532·4640, F X 727·532·4630, e·mail: [email protected]
Central:
Gary
Worden
Phone 800·444·9932, F X 816·741·6458, e·mail:
gary.wo
rd
el pc·
lIlag.com
Mountain Pacific: John Gibson
Phone 916·784·9593, e·mail:
ioilllgibsoll(i .spc·lIIag.com
E
urope: Willi Tacke
Phone +49 (0) 8841 487515, F X
+49
(0) 8841 496012,
e·
mail:
willi@{lyillg.page5.com
VINTAGE IRPL NE
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VAAIEAA
Reaction to
Taylorcraft
AD
As
this
article was
going
to press,
VAA staff and the EAA Government
Programs office were
drafting
a re
sponse to
the
recently issued Airwor
thiness
Directive (AD)
2007-16-14
concerning Taylorcraft lift struts. The
AD, which covers a broad spectrum
of
the
Taylorcraft fleet, including all
A, B,
and
F models, requires owners
to
have
their
lift struts inspected us
ing either
eddy current
or ultrasonic
nondestructive testing (NDT) meth
ods, with the testing being conducted
only by
certified NDT
inspectors
as
defined in
the
AD and Taylorcraft
Ser
vice Bulletin 2007-001. This inspec
tion , due within five hours ' time in
service after August 20, 2007, applies
to unsealed struts built in accordance
with Taylorcraft part numbers A-A815
and A-A84, or their equivalent part
numbers as supplied by
other
ven
dors. Owners should have received
their copy of the
AD
via
the
U.S. mail;
if you've
not
received a copy, you can
download it from the FAA website
at
www.FAA.g
ov
or from
the
Taylorcraft
website at
www.Taylorcraft.com.
In
general
we support the
con
cept
of inspecting the wing
struts
for corrosion. This AD is similar in
scope to the Piper lift strut AD first
issued more than
25
years ago, when
internal corrosion caused
the
failure
of unsealed
steel
streamline
tubing
struts. For this particular AD , we will
be
commenting on the
need for alter
nate methods of compliance for
the
inspection,
as
well
as our
belief that
once
the
initial inspection has
been
accomplished, a longer interval than
two years seems reasonable.
Since the AD was issued, we've spo
ken nearly every day with members af
fected by it. Most are concerned with
the
rationale used to initiate
the
AD ,
and they have been struggling to gain
access to local NDT inspectors
at
a rea
sonable cost. They have also expressed
concerns regarding
the
ability of the
factory to supply replacement struts,
OCTOBER 2 7
Alan Klapmeier
to Speak
at
EAA
Halls of
Fame Dinner
C
irru
s Des ign CEO Alan Klap
meier, a longtime
EAA
memb
er,
will
be th e keynote speaker at the a
n
nual EAA Halls of Fame dinner on
November 9 at
th
e
EAA
AirVe nture
Mu
se
um. Alan and h is bro
th
er, Dale,
began
their bu
s
in
ess with a Cirrus
home
built
design, th e VK-3 0 (th e
prototype is on display in the EAA
AirVenture Museum
),
in th e 1980s.
They moved on to production air
craft, produ
ci
ng th e
SR2
0 and
SR22
,
a
nd
in just over a decade became
one of
th
e top small-aircra
ft
manu
facturers in
th
e world. t AirVenture
thi s year, Cirrus announced develo
p
me
nt
of th e SR Sport , a light-sport
aircraft, and just weeks prior to th e
con venti on unveiled it s the- jet
personal jet.
EA
A memb ers are invited to at
tend the
dinn
er, wh ich includ
es th
e
induction ceremonies for th e
var
i
ous
EA
A halls of fame, including th e
Homebuilders Ha
ll
of
Fa
me
R
and
y
Schlitter); U
lt
ra light Ha ll of Fa me
as
well as
the
cost from
the
factory to
convert the vented struts to those
that
are sealed. Members have expressed
hope that other struts with parts man
ufacturer approval PMA) meeting the
need
for a sealed
strut
will be
made
available by other vendors .
The replacement of
the
vented
struts with new
PMA
'd
or original
equipment manager struts whose de
sign has been modified to be consid
ered sealed terminates the repetitive
inspection requirements for the AD.
Taylorcraft Wing Strut
Attach Fitting
We should also note
that the
struc
tural failure cited by
the
accident in
vestigator
as
the cause of the crash of
a
Ta
ylorcraft
BF12-65
on
July 28, 2007,
is
not related to
the
failure of
the
lift
strut. According to
the
investigator, it
was the direct result of undetected cor-
lan Klapmeier
M
ike
Ma rk
owski); V
in t
age Ai rcraft
Hall of
Fa
me
C
het Peek); Warbi rds
Hall of Fame (Conn ie Edward
s);
In
tern ational Aerobat ic Club Hall of
Fame (Debby Rihn-Harvey, Bill Ker
shner); and Flight In s
tru
ctor Hall
of Fame (Hal Shevers Wolfg
an
g
Lan gewiesch e) . Ticke ts can be or
dered by con tac ting Ma tt Miller at
mmill
er
@
ea
a orgor
800-236
-1
025, or
online at www.EAA org/ha
l/
of ame.
rosion
though
70 percent of
the
strut
attach
fitting welded
to the
fuselage
lower
longeron
. The corroded fitting
failed, pulling out of the longeron and
resulting in the separation of the left
wing
of the
airplane. Renowned sea
plane pilot Dave Wiley and his student/
passenger, Scott Alan Forsberg, died in
the
accident .
The
Ta
ylorcraft factory
has issued Service Letter No. 102-T,
dated September 4, 2007, to address
its concerns regarding maintenance of
this area of the aircraft structure.
VAA and EAA Comment
on
Draft
Policy Concerning
Type Certificates
Late this past
summer
, Edward
S.
Chalpin, AIR-110 and AIR-100, and Da
vid Hempe,
the
FAA
's manager of
the
Aircraft Engineering Division, issued
a draft policy concerning Managing
Revoked, Suspended, Surrendered, And
http:///reader/full/www.FAA.govhttp:///reader/full/www.FAA.govhttp:///reader/full/www.FAA.govhttp:///reader/full/www.Taylorcraft.comhttp:///reader/full/www.FAA.govhttp:///reader/full/www.Taylorcraft.com
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d Type Certificates (TC) And
ntal Type Certificates (STC)."
and VAA are pleased that the FAA
this draft policy to deal
the problems asso
the release of data, which,
with
a law pending in Con
will allow those maintaining and
safe
and cost-effective manner.
We
thank the
FAA for its attentive
to our previous request,
made
previous meetings with EAA
representatives,
that would allow for
distribution of certain types of TC
We understand
the difficulty in
the
issues of proprietary
and
intellectual property rights
creating
the
policy. Having said
number of issues that
to
Chalpin sent at the end of August.
them were the following:
•
Concern that
if
the
law pending
Congress is
not
enacted,
there
is
clear legal provision for
the FAA
to
the
data.
• Concern
that
the rule as
cur-
to
the export of vintage aircraft
the United States.
• Asking for clarification regard-
this policy
and the
restoration
unrestored aircraft
do
not
have current airworthi-
certificates.
•
We
believe it should be stated that
FAA
is
not obligated to create
FAA, in accor
is
obligated
to
release
the
party who may wish to
•
We
stated concurrence with com
made by Dave Ostrowski re
the issues related to aircraft
in the 1920s though
under Group 2 and Bulletin 7A
than 600 air
that were approved in that man
If the policy in place during the
the
TC
concerning
the
to
the
Department
the
same
i t
was for TC d products, then we
agree with Mr. Ostrowski s comment
that these aircraft should be included
within this policy.
• We concur with Mr. Robert Lock s
comments regarding the vintage air
craft
community's hope
that this
abandoned/revoked/suspended/sur
rendered
TC
and
STC
data
would be
considered
to
have
been
placed
in
the public domain for ready access
by
those who have an
interest
in
maintaining
the continued airwor
thiness of Vintage aircraft. The widest
possible latitude for the release of this
data should be available to the agency
so
that
CAMACO can assist
the
own
ers/restorers of these historic aircraft
by
providing
them with appropriate
information.
We
also concur with Mr.
Lock s
comments
regarding his con
cerns related to the resources avail
able within the FAA to comply
with
this policy, and we look forward to
hearing positive news regarding the
inventory and availability of the data
related to this policy.
As this article was being written,
further
comments regarding
the
ex
port of vintage aircraft were being con
sidered, with a fOllow-up letter being
drafted to address this issue.
It
should
be noted that this portion of the pol
icy
is
driven in large part by the stan
dards regarding the support of TC d
products imposed by other countries.
For the full text of the letter, please
visit www.
VintageAircra{t.org,
e-mail us
at VintageAircra [email protected], or drop us a
line
at
920-426-6110; we d be
happy
to put a copy in the mail to you.
Enjoy
Fall's Colors
in
the
Tri-Motor
Wisconsin s spectacular fall foliage
can be breathtaking at eye-level, but
it s simply spectacular from
the
air.
EAA's
1929 Ford Tri-Motor will again
be
taking
fall
color
flights
October
13-14. Reservations
can
be
made by
calling 920-426-6880 or going online
at www.AirVentureMuseum.org.
Complete the AirVenture
ilots
ATC
Survey
Did you
fly
your airplane to
EAA
AirVenture Oshkosh 2007? If
so,
the
FAA's air traffic control team asks
that you take a few minutes to com
plete a lO-question survey located
on the EAA AirVenture website at
https://Secure. EAA orgiAirVenture/atc
feedback. h
tml
Your help will provide impor-
tant
information
that
will allow
controllers
to continuously
im
prove the process to make
for
safer, more efficient operations
at
future fly-ins.
Vintage Errata
In last month's feature story about
Bob Lock and his Command-Aire 5C3,
we
managed to misspell valued contribu
tor Gilles Auliard s name in
the
credit
line for the author. Our apologies, Gilles
Copperstate Caps
the
Regional Fly-In Season
Copperstate EAA Regional Fly-In of
ficials report that early exhibitor regis
trations for this year s event are running
well ahead of previous years thanks to a
great reception at its exhibit at EAA Air
Venture Oshkosh.
The fly-in
is
scheduled for October
25-28 at
Casa
Grande Municipal Airport
(CGZ).
Visit www.Copperstate.org for an
updated exhibitors list, as well as every
thing else you need to know about this
year s event.
CGZ
is located midway be
tween Phoenix and Tucson, Arizona,
just a
few
miles west of Interstate 10.
The Southeast Regional
EAA
Fly-In
is
scheduled
for
October 12-14 at Middleton
Field (GZH) in Evergreen, Alabama. For
more information, visit www SERFI.org.
VINT GE
IRPL N E
http:///reader/full/VintageAircra%7Bt.orghttp:///reader/full/VintageAircra%7Bt.orgmailto:VintageAircra([email protected]:///reader/full/www.AirVentureMuseum.orghttps://secure/http:///reader/full/www.Copperstate.orghttp:///reader/full/SERFI.orghttp:///reader/full/VintageAircra%7Bt.orgmailto:VintageAircra([email protected]:///reader/full/www.AirVentureMuseum.orghttps://secure/http:///reader/full/www.Copperstate.orghttp:///reader/full/SERFI.org
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6/44
It's
Spooktacular
EAA's Haunted Hangar
If you live within driving distance
of Oshkosh, consider a fun tr ip with
your
children or
grandchildren for
a spooktacular event .
The
spirit
of
Halloween
connects with aviation
history at
the
EAA
AirVenture Muse
um's popular annual event
as EAA's
Haunted
Hangar takes place Octo
ber 19-20 and the following week
on
October 26 and 27.
All
the lights are turned off in the
museum and spooky guides will lead
guests
on
an exciting flashlight tour.
Watch out for Halloween ghosts and
surprises as you
hear
chilling stories filled with
ghastly aviation history.
Admission to the Haunted
Hangar is just S per per
son, and all visitors are en
couraged to dress in their
favorite Halloween cos
tume. EAA members and
children
S
and
younger
are admitted free . Reser
vations are not required
but are recommended by
calling 920-426-6880 or
by visiting our secure registration site
at www AirVentureMuseum org Volun
teers are needed for this event. If you
are interested please contact the mu
seum at 920-426-4818.
The Slightly Haunted Hangar
For younger visitors, EAA's Slightly
Haunted Hangar
is
a fun and friendly
way to celebrate Halloween
on
Octo
ber 28,
11
a.m.-2 p.m. They'll have
the opportunity to trick or treat, play
games, participate in Halloween activ
ities, and even come dressed in their
favorite costume. Admission to
the
Slightly Haunted Hangar
is
included
in regular museum admission.
EAA
members and
children ages Sand
younger are always admitted
free
.
SPEND
LESS
&
FLY
MORE
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Your Newest EAA Member Benefit
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• Extra benefits include Auto
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Only the new EAA credit card issued by U.S. Bank qualifies you for money-saving Aircraft Spruce
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*Save up to
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ap p
ly.
Visit the
US
Bank booth
in
the North Membership
Tent in
Member Village during AirVenture!
OCTOBER 2 7
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SEND YOUR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS TO:
,
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
P.O. Box 3086
OSHKOSH , WI
54903-3086
OR YOU CAN E-M IL THEM TO: vintageaircr t @eaa.org
I Remember That
Airplane
Editor s Note: In addition
to roles
as the
computer
systems
gum
When I saw the cover on the July 2007 issue of Vintage and
later
as
director
of the EAA museum (and wearing a
variety
it brought back a memory of some
SO
years ago.
of
other
hats
as
well),
Gene Chase served as senior editor
of
EAA
the
Utah
Oil
Refining Company s Cessna
publications and editor
of
Vintage Airplane
magazine
from
N4811
B out of
Salt Lake
City and
dropped off a
979
through
1987, and
he has remained
not only a valuable
at
McGowan Field
at
Boise, Idaho. Always on
resource
regarding the
history
of EAA and its divisions (his wife,
lookout for old airplanes, I spotted this vintage Travel
Dorothy, once served
as
the
office
secretary for the divisions), but
tied down
on
the
flightline and took two
photos
also an active
EAA/VAA volunteer
and
all-around nice
guy
ever
my aged Kodak 620 (see below). On the back side since
his
retirement in
1987.
Gene was
bestowed
with the title
Di
the prints is noted: October 18, 1956, Travel Air lO-D, rector
Emeritus
upon his retirement
from
the VAA board.
HGF
SIN
10-2011, Jacobs
R-7SS. As
I recall,
the
right
cabin
door had
been
.- -- - -
---------
Inquiring about
plane at
the
FBO office,
was told
the
Travel Air was
to drop bales of
hay
to
cattle in the
I am
pleased
to see
this
old
girl
is
flying
and
I congratulate
Waldron and
Harry
for their beau
restoration.
Gene R. Chase
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
VINT GE IRPL NE 5
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]
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by H G Frautschy
This
spectacular
1940 Cessna
Airmaster
finished in Civil
Aeronautics
Authority
CAA)
colors is the
product of the
hard work
done by
Vernon Heyrman
of
De Pere,
Wisconsin. It
was
presented with the
Antique-Bronze
Age
Outstanding
Closed-Cockpit
Monoplane trophy.
OCTO ER
2 7
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M
re than a thousand vintage showplanes and campers
parked by hundreds of
VAA
volunteers. Twenty-two Type
Clubs hosted
in
the Type Club tent. Dozens of pieces
of sheet metal used to teach sheet metal forming in the
And
this isn t everybody
Moyer braved the heights
the VAA Flightline Shack roof
capture this
shot of
many
of
nearly 500 VAA
volunteers
make
it
possible
for the
to host
1,014 showplanes
vintage
campers.
Great
job,
all
Flightline
"Volunteer of
the
Year" award
recipient
AI Hallett doing what he
does
best
and with
great
enthusiasm,
directing
VAA members and their
airplanes
to
a spot in the
grass
in
the Vintage area.
Workshop tent. Thousands of bags of popcorn popped in the
VAA
Red
Bam Hospitality Center. Zillions of people served at the
VAA
Help Desk
in the
Red
Bam. More
than
600 VAA participant plaques handed out to
members. About 15,500 flowers planted
on
the EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
grounds (thanks, Karen and volunteers ). More than 400 volunteers who
pitched
in
and helped the
EAA
maintenance department. Approximately
7,600 meals served to those vo lunteers before the start of AirVenture.
And 2,500 meals served at the
VAA's
Tall Pines Cafe, cooked
and
served
by dozens of VAA volunteers. Oh, yes, and nearly 1,200 portable toilets
to
provide for the comfort of the volunteers, members, and visitors
who
trek over the 1,600 acres of AirVenture grounds.
Numbers are sometimes fun
to
contemplate,
but
if you look closely
at the paragraph above, it repeats one word more
than
any other-
volunteer. Without your volunteer participation, the annual EAA
convent ion simply woul
dn t
happen. Not like this, anyway. It would
be a lot more expensive, and it probably would
not
be filled with as
many
member-requested forums
and
displays
as
there are today. This
annu
al
event has become the go-to destination for people worldwide,
and you and your fellow VAA/EAA members can look at one another
with pride and
say, Yeah, we
help create the world's greatest aviation
celebration./I Congratulations to you, the volunteers, to the hundreds
of pilots who take
the
time and cover the gas money to fly their vintage
airplanes to Wittman Field, to the thousands of members who attend
the convention, and let's
not
forget the staff of
EAA.
Sure, it's their job,
but I guarantee you, if it were not for the passion and dedication to
the mission of EAA and VAA I see in the office all year long,
the
annual
aviationfest we call AirVenture wouldn't come off nearly as effiCiently
and well run. Our thanks to all of you
But it's
not
the prospect of swatting Wisconsin's legendary mosquitoes
that brings us to the upper Midwest each summer; it's the vintage
airplanes and our friends who we see each year
that
brings us back. Let's
take a look at many of the planes and people who make AirVenture the
Singular experience
i t
is.
ST V MOY R
~ ~
VINT GE A I R
PL
A N E
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"Hey, isn t that a ••? Most people walking
by
Rick Hamlin s Ryan
knew
it
looked
familiar, but they just couldn t put their finger
on
what it
was,
exactly.
Well,
it s a Ryan
PT-22,
modified
by
the late
Mark Hoskins in the early 1960s. Thanks to sharp-looking
wheel
fairings and a 220-hp Continental, the
Super
Ryan, as it was
dubbed by
Hoskins, wowed
those who
remember it from 40 years
ago.
Now owned by Hamlin,
a noted Auburn, Cord, and Duesenberg
automobile restorer and a vintage airplane pilot, the Ryan is again
turning
heads
wherever
it goes.
Left: Dave Carlson (left)
and Archie Jones have
just put the finishing
touch
on
the
VAA Red
Barn Hospitality
Center,
the VAA windsock. You
can
bet
they wear
their
stickiest shoes
The
new VAA
Awards
program
now presents all of the VAA
awards
within
one
hour
on
Saturday night, and thanks in
part to the volunteer efforts
of
emcee David
Clark
(one
of
the VAA's judges, unfortunately
not shown in this photo), the
program came
off beautifully.
Seated on
the left, VAA
President Geoff
Robison
joins
the crowd in
acknowledging
the
efforts of the VAA judging corps,
who
were
all
asked
to stand
and receive
the appreciation
ovation.
Shown
are (back
row,
left to right), Dean Richardson,
Dan
Knutson, and Tim Popp,
and
in the front row, Geoff,
Dale
Gustafson,
and
Don Coleman.
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ohn Watts
does
his
thing as he
works
the taxiway
in
the
Vintage
parking
area.
John travels to
irVenture every
year
from
San
Diego, California.
The
Grand
Champion
Contemporary
Award
went to
Bill Rose s 1956
de Havilland
DHC·1B·2·S5
Chipmunk.
o
often the sheet
metal
on
a
vintage airplane
used
for flight
training can
look
a bit like a lumpy
burlap sack, but
not this excellent airplane. The sheet
metal
and nose bowl
looked
as
though they d just been
created
by the de Havilland factory,
and
the rest of the airframe was equally
as
expertly finished.
VIN T GE IRPL NE
9
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Lars DeJounge
has
the only flying Saab
91
Safir in the United States. Designed
by
legendary
Swedish
engineer
Anders J. Anderson, this Safir was built in Linkoping, Sweden, late in 1961 and first
registered in March 1962.
Anderson
also designed the Biicker Bestmann (see the article starting
on
page 16), and the two aircraft share
many
similar characteristics.
The
type
was
originally built as a
training aircraft for
both
the
Swedish
and
Finnish
air forces.
It was
fun
to see
the 1950 Anderson
Greenwood
AND-51-A
on the flightline. Winner
of the Classic Class II
(81-150
hpJ Bronze
Lindy, David
Powell s
neat
restoration of this
rare Classic category
airplane (there are six
currently registered)
drew admirers
throughout the week.
The subject of one of
next
month's full-color
eatures in Vintage
Airplane
this is the
Antique Golden
Age
(1918-1927) Champion,
Chuck Wentworth
Antique Aero s
restoration of John
Seibold s
Stinson
SM-1B,
the
only
one left.
1
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TelT}'
Chastain
lands the Waco
QCF
restored by the
folks at
Old
Style Aircraft Company of
Creve
Coeur,
Missouri.
Special
arrangements
were made to
designate
a strip o
grass south
and slightly west o
Runway
36L
as
a
grass
landing strip. Don't
wony, Teny
didn't
land
short;
those
cones
highlight a
spot in the grass
a bit
smoother
for
touchdown! The QCF was
presented
with the
Grand Champion
Gold Lindy
award.
Each Saturday
during
the
convention,
the
town
of Shawano,
Wisconsin,
hosts
a fly-in for
those
pilots at
AirVenture
who'd
like to "fly-out."
This
year's "fly-outers"
gathered
for a group
shot
with
VAA
Director Jeannie
Hill
(center,
kneeling)
prior to their early-
morning departure.
The Antique
airplane
judges. The
Classic
airplane
judges.
VINTAGE
IRPL NE
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The VAA Tall Pines
Cafe
is the place
on
the field
for a great breakfast.
Cooking the pancakes
in the foreground is
Jim
Roberts,
and
the
scrambled eggs are
being herded around the
grill
by
Chuck
Sandager.
You can t
see
him
very well in this shot,
but Mike
Hoag is
also .
helping in the kitchen.
Mary Lynch
of
Green
Bay,
Wisconsin,
and
David
Carlson
of Monticello, Minnesota, spent
much
of their
day
delivering
bags
of
ice
and bottles of
water
to hundreds of
VAA
members
camping
in the
Vintage
aircraft
parking area. The construction of
an
insulated
box
to carry the ice
allowed
Mary and David to range
far afield
before having
to return
to
base
for more supplies. We
caught up with
them
well south of
the
Runway
36 threshold, about
Row 135. Like the
many
John
Deere
Gators lent to
EAA
for the
convention
by John Deere,
this
Gator proved to be invaluable in
serving the members
needs.
12 OCTO E R
2 7
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A pair of award-winning
Waco
QCFs from
Rare
Aircraft of
Owatonna,
Minnesota, rest in the Antique
parking area. On the left is the Antique
Reserve Grand
Champion, a 1931
Waco,
while to the right is
the Silver
Age
(1928-1936)
Champion,
another 1931
model
QCF.
Michael Kosta, co-chainnan of VAA Flightline Safety,
steps toward the cockpit as Glenn Peck, the restorer
of the Historic Aviation
Museum s
de Havilland
DH
4M2A, shuts down the mighty Liberty engine in mid
afternoon
on
Friday.
JACK McCARTHY
The relief of finally
making
it to
Oshkosh
shows on Glenn s
face as
he
greets friend
Don
Parsons
after his alTival. The odyssey
began the previous Saturday, and only
through
tremendous
perseverance
did
he
continue the flight from
Creve
Coeur,
Missouri, to Oshkosh. We ll have more
on this one-of-a-kind
biplane,
and Glenn
Peck s restoration,
in
an
upcoming
issue
of
Vintage Airplane
While the DH-4
did
alTive after the judging deadline had
passed
the
judges
were
unanimous
that
a special Antique
Judges
Choice award be
presented to Glenn and AI Stix for their
massive
mailplane.
V I N T
GE A IRPLANE
3
Oxyacetylene welding
and many
other sheet
metal skills were taught
and
demonstrated in
the
Workshop
tent located between the
Red
Barn
and
the Type
Club
tent.
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The Type
Club
tent hosted 22 type clubs from around the
country,
each
a committed group of folks who enjoy flying
and
restoring their favorite airplanes.
Lorraine Morris
and
her husband,
Ken, were
two of the volunteers
who
hosted
and
demonstrated the proper
techniques for
hand
propping a
vintage airplane.
The
demonstrations,
held just
east
of the
Red
Barn
Hospitality
Center, proved
to be
among the most popular of the VAA s
educational programs.
The
VAA
board
of directors
and executive
director (kneeling)
pause
for a group
photo
after the annual
business
meeting.
Each
o
these folks dedicates
hundreds
of volunteer
hours
over the
course
of the
year. (Except for
yours
truly, [kneeling] who gets paid to work with
these
fine folks.)
Veteran
VAA
photographer
Jack McCarthy
kept muttering something about herding cats
when
referring to trying
to gather the group for the shot. I'm sure
none
of
us knew
what he
was
talking about•••
14 OCTO E R 2 7
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Left: Tom
Poberemy
speaks
and
Buck
Hilbert
presents
the
Dorothy Hilbert
Volunteer
Award,
presented each year
to a female
EAA
volunteer
who
exhibits the same
passion,
dedication, and
devotion for volunteerism
as
did the late Dorothy
Hilbert. Buck Hilbert created the
award
to honor
the memol)'
of
his wife steadfast
EAA
volunteer,
who
passed away last year. Dorothy
was
a
dedicated 3S-year volunteer
at AirVenture,
Buck
said.
She was known as
the
'Hangar Queen at the
Wearhouse'
because she
has
helped organize
all
of
the women volunteers. The inaugural
recipient
of the award
is
Dolores Neunteufel, who
chairs
the
EAA AirVenture Assistance
Center.
Dolores
is
one
of those 'quiet volunteers' who has always worked
behind the scenes and not in the spotlight,
said
Sandy Marsh, chairman of the Activities Center.
She has always
been
willing to
do
whatever
it
takes
to get the job done.
= _
VAA Volunteer Center
Chairwoman
Anna Osborn
chats
with
a
volunteer.
Anna and
her
volunteers processed
more than 500 volunteers
over
the
course
of the
week.
The
Grand Champion
Classic is this vel)'
neat
Cessna
170
belonging
to
Steve Jacobson
of Fort Worth,
Texas. Steve tells
us
that if he'd really known in
advance
what it would take to restore it he'd have
walked away. After admiring both the interior and exterior, I'm pretty
sure
he's
glad
he didn't think
about it too hard.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
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'chard Epton is one happy
pilot, and he radiates an in
fectious enthusiasm when
e describes his Bucker Best
mann. He's owned
other
airplanes,
but the Bestmann is something spe
cial to him, and not just because it's
the
only
one
actively flying in the
United States (one is
on
display
at
Fantasy of Flight in Florida), but also
because
of
its classic good looks
and
excellent performance.
It's incredibly responsive on a
6 OCTO ER 2 7
A
delight in flight
Y SP RKY B RNES S RGENT
flyby when you waggle the stick. If
you do that in a Tiger Moth noth-
ing happens, but do it with a Bucker
and i t goes knife-edge, says Epton,
his cheerful countenance aglow, add
ing, For a 1940s airplane, it was way
ahead of its time.
Brief
Biicker Histol)
A brief look at the history of Bucker
aircraft shows that in
the
early 1920s
Carl Clemens Bucker, a naval avia
tor
who
had taken
his flying career
to
Sweden from Germany, started
an aircraft company called Svenska
Aero (known
today
as SAAB . About
10 years later, Bucker
moved
back
to Germany and named his new air
craft company Bucker Flugzeugbau
GmbH. In 1933, Anders]. Andersson,
his chief engineer, designed and built
a two-seat trainer, the BU-131 ]ung-
mann, in less than six
months.
The
small biplane was fully aerobatic and
economical to operate and soon went
into production for the Luftsportver
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It's
incredibly
responsIve on a
flyby
when
you
waggle the stick.
If you do that in
a Tiger Moth
nothing happens
but
do it
with a
Bucker and it
goes
knife-edge.
Richard pton
The wings are ready and the fuselage is
work
in
progress.
band, a civilian flying association.
In 1934,
the need
arose for a sin
gle-seat
advanced trainer that
was
more aerobatic,
and
the BU-133 Jung
meister was designed.
Other
aircraft
were also
designed
by Bticker Flug
zeugbau GmbH, including
the
two
place,
low-wing Bti 180 Student;
a
two-place
Bti
181 Bestmann;
and
a
single-place
Bti 182
Kornett.
In the
following years, several
other coun
tries,
including
Switzerland, Japan
Spain
and
Czechoslovakia
were li
censed to build various models of
Bticker aircraft.
Bticker aircraft were never licensed
for production in
the United
States,
but by the 1960s they began enter
ing the
country
and
were classified
as
experimental-exhibition or
exper
imental-amateur-built
depending
on
how
they
were built. Their origi
nal engines, such as
the
Hirth, Tigre,
or
Siemens-Halske,
have
often
been
replaced
with more
reliable Warner,
Lycoming, or
LOM
(Letecke opravny
Malesice) engines.over the years.
The
Bestmann
The prototype Bticker Bu 181 Best
mann
took
to the
skies in early 1939,
and
production of
this model
began
the following year
at the
Bticker fac
tory
in Germany, where it continued
throughout World War II.
The
Best
mann
was a
primary trainer
for
the
German
Luftwaffe, and it quickly be
came quite popular for several rea
sons. For one, it allowed an instructor
and
student to sit side by side in
the
comfort
of an enclosed cabin, as op
posed
to
the earlier Bucker models,
which had tandem seating
and
typi
cally an open cockpit. Its aerobatic
J) capabilities, combined with its rapid
and fluid response to control input,
allowed
students to
learn basic com
bat
maneuvers. And its long fuselage
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The
spacious cockpit of the Bestmann.
has restored
both
Zlin and Bucker
aircraft, "There are many similarities
between
these aircraft,
to the extent
that a lot of components are inter
changeable, particularly in
the
land
ing gear
and
control system."
N94245
Epton's Bestmann (s/n
145) is a
handsome example of
the
Czecho
slovakian-built Z-381 and was manu
factured in 1949. Previous owner Joe
Moriarty of Phoenix, Arizona, im
ported
the
aircraft in September 1981
from
Karl
Wittig of Gande
Kasse,
Ger
many. I t was shipped
to
Houston ,
Texas, where it was reassembled, in
spected,
and
test flown before being
flown to its new home in Arizona.
According to
Epton , Moriarty
flew it for
many
years
and then
dis
assembled it. "Joe
is
an outstanding
gent, and he had decided it was time
to
restore the aircraft. Its fuselage is
wooden monocoque construction
and the wings and tail are wood as
well, so he found a
brand-new
fuse
lage somewhere in Europe," recalls
Epton, adding, and
the
aircraft was
finished
by a
gentleman
called Joe
Krybus in Santa Paula, California.
He's the guru in Bucker aircraft,
and
he
also
installed
a
new
LOM 332B
four-cylinder inverted, in ine engine,
with a
constant-speed prop
. Origi
nally, the aircraft had a 105-hp Hirth
HM
504 engine."
Beaver further explains the advan
tages of
the
LOM engine, saying, It
has true multipoint, timed fuel in
8
OCTOBER 2 7
jection and an overhead cam, like a
modern
car. It
is
a very modern en
gine
that
runs more
like a
Honda
than a Lycoming Unusually, the su
percharger can be engaged or disen
gaged in flight, so it produces 160 hp
when
the
supercharger is
engaged
and 140
hp
when it is turned off."
Epton purchased N94245 from
Mo-
riarty in July 2006 and requested the Z
UJ
willing and capable
help
of Beaver,
('}j
who also owns and
flies
a Bucker Jung-
f
mann, to fly i t home to Brooks, Geor-
gia. Reflecting
on that
flight, Beaver
says, It was a privilege
to
fly Richard's
Bestmann from Phoenix. Even though
rJ)
rJ)
k f
ew pounds94245 has pic ed up a
over
the
years (as have I ,
the
super-
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aviation in general, it helps to
know
a bit more about this Englishman. He
fondly recalls how, as a child, he helped
his father, Eric Claude Epton, milk the
cows in a cold milking
shed
while
listening
to
his tales of
how
Hurri
canes and
Spitfires chased Heinkels
and Junker 88s all over the Lincoln
shire
coun
tryside,
known
as Bomber
County,
and how he
had
heard
the
roar of the Merlin engines in Lancast
ers. We made frequent visits
to
the
old runways
and
airfields,
which
he
had visited
as
a lad, and I in turn took
my son to the very same fields. I was
hooked, and it was simply a matter of
time before I became airborne "
Epton
has been flying now for
about 20 years
and
was first involved
in the
wo rld
of microlight
flying in
his home country, where it
s
quite ex
pensive
to
learn
to
fly
.
When he
relo
cated to t
he
United States in January
1990 to establish a company for one
of his English clients, flying become
much more feasible
and
accessible to
him.
"I
came over with
my wife, son, dog, and
grandfather
clock, he
says congenially, and I
started a business which
is now very successful. I
i
mport
refrigeration dis
play
cases
and
supply
th em to conventions,
as well as selling via a
dealer network through
out the USA ."
By the mid-1990s,
Epton
completed
his
student pilo t
training
at Peachtree City and
earned
his pilot certifi
cate. Then he
bought
an Ercoupe pro ject and,
chuckling, says he "won
dered how my transition
was
going
to
be
from
'super light' to 'heavy
metal Ercoupe.' I t was
great,
and
I flew it for 14
years, then so ld
it
and
bought a
Super
260 Navion, which
we restored
and
made pretty. Then I
bought
a twin Navion, which
my
22
year-old son, Richard, soloed when
he
was 19, and he's got 1,000 hours
now. And to think when I was a teen
ager, I was
only
driving a tractor "
Epton also owned a Tiger Mo th
prior
to
the
Bestmann and, with
h
is
jovial sense
of
humor, describes it as
"a fabulous plane. Every Englishman
should
own
one . It's the ep it
ome
of
flight
in
Great Britain-just stick a
nd
rudder. Actually, it's a grea t t rai ner
because it highlights your shortcom
ings as a pilot
without
breaking any
thing. So
my
transition to
the
B cker
was an easy one because
the
engine
is upside down,
as
the Americans say,
and
the
propeller
turns the
'wro
ng
way,' as
did the Tiger Moth's."
The Numbers
N94245
ho
lds 32 gallons of fuel in
its fuselage tank, located directly be
hind the seats and just below the bag
gage
compartment.
Handily, t
he
gas
cap
has a dipstick-similar to
an
oil
cap-so the fuel level can easily be as
certained visually. The Bestmann
is
a
good short-field performer, taking off
in 918 feet and landing in 459 feet. It
has an empty weight of 1,166 pounds
and
a payload of 704 pounds (less for
aerobatics), so with a full load of fuel,
512 pounds are available for pilot, pas
senger, and baggage on a typical flight.
The efficient
Czechoslovakian
built LOM 332B engine bu rn s
fe
wer
Above: Close-up
view
o
the
split flap.
Left:
This Bestmann is
powered by a
Czechoslovakian
LOM
332B
engine
o
140
hp
or
160
hp when supercharged).
The
Bestmann opens wide for easy ac
ess
to
the
cockpit and
engine.
VIN T GE IRPL
NE
9
The
aerobatic
Bestmann has
seats that
were
de
signed to comfortably accommodate parachutes
while a
cargo
net keeps
items
securely stowed in the
baggage
compartment.
-
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Oct 2007
22/44
than
7 gallons
per
hour, according
to Epton, at an economical cruise of
about
115
to
117
mph. I f you want
to
burn more gas, you can engage the
supercharger. I normally fly for two
hours before refueling,
but
you could
fly safely three hours, with a reserve
remaining. So Lakeland, Florida, was
an easy shot from my
home in
Brooks.
I flew halfway, landed in Thomasville
for gas,
and then
came straight
on
in to Lakeland. The weather was per
fect, with a high overcast
that
kept
the sun off
my
head. I've tinted the
top glass of the aircraft because it
is
a
:
c ;
greenhouse
when
the sun is shining
directly on you.
g;
The nearly 6 foot 9 inch tall
Bestmann
sits a bit
high on
its nar-
ptonflew his Bestmann. row gear,
yet
Epton finds that its
2
OCTO ER 2 7
Son
Richard
and
his
lady friend Dee flew D16A Twin NaYion to the show and
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8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Oct 2007
23/44
Joe Moriarty
with
N94245 in Phoenix Arizona.
Steve
Beaver with the
Besbnann
upon
aniYal at Epton s
home
in
Brooks Georgia.
ground-handling characteristics
are very good, with its large cable-
operated rudder and effective brakes.
The fully swiveling tail w heel
has
an oleo-spring shock strut, as do the
main gear. The ailerons and elevators
are activated by push-pull rods that
glide easily
through their
bushings
and require
only
the typical light-as
a-feather Bticker touch. The ailerons,
elevators, and
rudder
are fabric-
covered,
and
the tail group
is
of wood
construction
(fabric-covered ply
wood on the horizontal and vertical
stabilizers), as are the tapered, canti
levered wings, which have a span
of
34 feet 9 inches. From
nose
to tail,
the
Bestmann measures
25
feet
9
inches, and its
wooden
monocoque
fuselage has a steel
tubing
framework
protecting the cabin area.
A
Delight in Flight
Although the Bestmann's
inte
o
rior has a rather Spartan appearance,
Epton finds that it s a very comfort
able airplane and functional as well,
since the seats are designed to ac
commodate seat-style parachutes and
the instrument panel
and controls
are easily accessible from either seat.
Since visibility
over
the
nose is ex
cellent, Epton
doesn't
need to S-turn
while taxiing, and
in
flight visibility
is even better. That, combined with
its quick responsiveness, makes it a
pleasure to fly
Describing his first
flight
in
the
Bestmann, Epton says, It
was
in
Phoenix, where i t was 105 degrees.
We had a
heavy
load. I was in the
left seat,
where
the only brakes are,
and
the
other
pilot
was
in
the
right
seat, with plenty of fuel. We taxied
for 25 minutes, and I'm wondering
just how we're going to do. Takeoff
asks for 15 degrees of flap, and with
steady application of full power the
aircraft accelerates smartly in a three
point attitude. He said,
'Don't
push
the stick, just open the throttle and
stay dead straight. t 45 mph, put
one
finger
on
the stick and move it
forward
one
inch, feel the tail come
up, and
then
at 55 mph move it back
1
inch'-and i t
gently becomes air
borne. It s a throaty, noisy little rascal
on
takeoff, as it has straight pipes of
only about
10 inches. Then with the
split-style flaps retracted, speed in
creases very quickly to the best climb
speed of
80
mph,
and
by the time
you level off at cruise, the airspeed is
around 115
mph.
The Bestmann is well-behaved dur
ing landings, provided
the
pilot stays
alert, as
in
any
tailwheel aircraft.
Ep-
ton describes
the
procedure this way:
With 15 degrees
of
flap at 115 mph
(or less) slowing to a downwind speed
VINT GE
I R P L N E 2
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This Bestmann was built for towing
gliders Note the tow hook aft of the
tail wheel
of
80
mph,
you
turn
base
at
70 mph
and
fly
final
at
65 mph with the full
45 degrees of flap. Touchdown is
around
50
mph and the
aircraft may
be three-pointed, or wheel landed,
though
attention must
be
paid to
rudder
input as
she
will
'smell
the
OCTO ER 2 7
He re you can easily see two of the
four metal str
ap
s that
run
lengthwise
on
the wooden
monocoque fuselage
The straps distribute the load of tow-
ing gtiders
Z reveals just how
much
of a delight in
flight it really is. "Like its brethren,
the
Bestmann
is
a good aerobatic per
former. The controls are very light,
smooth, and
perfectly balanced," ex
:
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25/44
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Benny Howard's
he
resurrection
of
Ben
ny
Howard s
Giant Killers, Mike nd ke
BY KARL D. ENGELSKIRGER
PRESIDENT, TH NORTHERN OHIO MUSEUM OF AVIATION
After
nearly 60 years in relative
obscurity, Benny Howard s origi-
na
l
1932 Howard
DGA-S
air
racers,
ike and Ike
are
undergoing
resto
ration
to
airworthy condition.
My
business partner Tom Matowitz
Above:
Benny
Howard s Mike. The
registration
currently on the airplane
is
not
the original number
issued to
the racer, Mike s original registration
number of NR55Y is now registered
to
Gus
Limbach s
Gusty
homebuitt
aerobatic airplane,
while
Ike s original
number is
assigned to
Kim
Kovach s
Ike
replica.
Left: Ike s original
cowl and Menasco
8-6 Buccaneer
engine
await restoration.
4
CTO ER
2 7
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8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Oct 2007
27/44
and
I were able to obtain
both
air-
planes from
their longtime
owner
Joe Binder. Binder purchased the
vintage National Air Races aircraft
in the
early 1950s with
the hopes
of restoring both
airplanes
but
he
never
quite accomplished his goal.
Other than brief appearances at Os-
hkosh
in
1991
and
Mike s
brief stay
at the Crawford Museum in Cleve-
land
during
the mid 1990s both air-
planes have
been
out of public view
for more than half a century.
The restoration process began
in
early
May
2007
at our shop in
We
are very
fortunate
that
both airplanes are
virtually
complete
and
n amazing
condition considering
their
age.
Hinckley
Ohio . I t is our goal to
have Mike back
in
the air in roughly
three years and Ike airborne shortly
thereafter.
We are very fortunate
that both airplanes are virtually
complete
and
in amazing condition
considering their age . With the ex-
ception of Mike s original
Menasco
B S
engine an
original
Bosch mag-
neto SWitch and a few
sheet
metal
fairings
all of
the
parts are
pres-
ent. I t is
our
goal
to
restore
the
airplanes as close to original con-
dition as possible. In the interest
of safety a few modifications will
Ike's Benny
Howard
stablemate, Mike. The early
versions
o the airplanes were distinctly different in
appearance
with
Ike
sporting
a pair of tandem-wheel main landing gears. Later, when Ike's gear was
revised to the
standard
two-wheel gear configuration, only differences in the
markings and
nose bowl
configuration (plus, of course, the different
markings and aircraft
registration numbers) made it
possible
t tell the differences
between
the
two
racers.
VINT GE
I R P L N E S
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28/44
Mike and
Ike
in the Ohio sunshine. Mike s restoration is further along, and the
plan
is
for Mike (now equipped
with
a Czech LOM inline engine) to be completed
first
followed shortly
by Ike s restoration.
Moving day after the sale.
Except
for a
visit
to EAA
during
the annual
fly-in
and convention in
99
for
EAA s
celebration
of
the Golden Age
of Air
Racing,
and a display of Mike at
the Crawford Museum in the
1990s,
neither
airplane had been out of the
garage
since
Joe Binder s purchase
from Benny
Howard
in the late 194Os.
Thanks
to
the efforts of
Binder,
both
airplane
projects
were
complete.
in
clude
the installation of brakes
ta
il wh
eels, and
a
Czech M-13?
A
engine
to power
Mike
To
th
e best of our knowledge,
n
ny
Howard s
Mike and Ike
are
likely
th
e only original Thompson
Tro
ph
y racers with any potential of
retu rning to airworthy status. Both
ha
ve
great
h is t
orical
importance:
Mi
ke
placed third in the
Thompson
Tro p
hy
Race in 1933 and won the
Greve Trophy in 1935 and
Ike
held
the inver ted world speed record dur
ing th e mi d 1930s. When ke returns
to th e a ir after an 80-year hiatus he
will be powered by the original six
cylinder Menasco Buccaneer that he
had wh en he left Benny Howard s
Kan sas City shop in July of 1932.
Please
fo
llow our progress by visiting
our website at
www FlyNOMA org
Mike s
uncovered fuselage highlights
it
as
a
racer:
short, with ts graceful
aft
neatly streamlined
behind the
inline
six-cylinder
Menasco
engine.
6
OCTO ER
2 7
http:///reader/full/www.FlyNOMA.orghttp:///reader/full/www.FlyNOMA.org
-
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29/44
Charles
and
Barbara Hagen
Bradenton L
• Charles began
aviation
career
in
the u s Navy
in 1958
• Pilot with
American Airlines
from 1965 to 1996
• Purchased NC29925
Waco UPF
in
1996
/II searched for an insurance company that had a reputation
for great service at a reasonable
cost. U
fit that bill. Many
insurance companies did not want to insure antique aircraft
and those that did wanted a premium to do
so. U has
is
and will be my insurance company. U should be
considered by anyone thinking of insuring an airplane./I
- Charles
Hagen
AUA
is Vintage Aircraft Association approved.
To
become a
member of VAA call
8oo·843·36J2.
AUA s Exclusive E Vintage
ircraft ssociation
Insurance Program
Lower liability and
hull premiums
Medical payments included
Fleet
discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all
risk
coverages
No
ports endorsements
-
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Oct 2007
30/44
for vintage pilots
Organized
Weather Briefings
Sometimes all the web-based downloads you can find are
still not enough, and
that's
when
Sporty's
Weather Briefing
Cards can help pilots organize information from weather brief
ings. You can fill in information in the appropriate spaces on
the kneeboard-size cards,
wh
i
ch
are organized in order
of in
format ion given. A pad of
50
item number
1362A)
sells for
3.95.
For
more information call
800-776-7897
or visit www
Sportys com
DVD Offers Through-the-Helmet Look
at TIG Welding
HTP America Inc. now offers
a new DVD
designed
to bring
novice
welders
up to speed on
TIG welding. The
70-minute
in-
structional video Welcome to
the
World of TIG
Welding
pro
vides explanations and exam
ples of
the
TIG welding process.
Call 800 872 9353 or visit www
USAWeld com
to order.
LY
NOW
The Smithsonian s National
Air
and Space Mu
seum and
National
Geographic
present the
his
tory of flight
in FLY NOW The Poster Collection
o
the Smithsonian National Air and Space Mu -
seum, which
spans nearly two centuries of aer
ial adventure and
air
travel. The images in
FLY
NOW/ some
never
before
published-are
culled
from the National
Air
and Space Museum s collec
tion
of
1,400
aeronautical posters. Each tells a
story of flight,
from
the hot air balloon to the sleek
777
Worldliner
jet. The earliest
poster dates
from
1827.
The
book, by
Joanne
Gernstein London, a
curator
at the
National
Air and Space
Museum,
is
the
companion
volume to
the
FLY NOW/ traveling
exhibition. It
is also
a
companion to
America by
Air,
a
new
exhibit opening
at the museum s
flag
ship building
on the National Mall
in Washington
in
late 2007.
Published by National
Geographic Books,
the
book
is
available for 25 at
your
favorite local
bookstore
or
online
retailer.
8 OCTOBER
2 7
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-
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31/44
Cessna 120/140 Fuel Valve
The folks
at
Univair in Aurora,
Colorado , never seem to
stop
solving vexing problems for vin
tage airplane owners. This time
the
beneficiaries of its engineer
ing and manufacturing expertise
are
the
owners of Cessna 120
and
140 series airplanes. Ever since
Imperial/Gould discontinued
its series of brass fuel valves,
the
120/140 owners have had
to
do
their best
to
keep
their
valves in
airworthy condition. Univair has
been issued FAA PMA approval
for its new replacement fuel valve
and
handle for
the
120/140 series.
Univair has
engineered
the unit
to have a smooth turning action,
with detents in the proper loca
tions
and no
sticking or
binding
,
unlike the original valve.
It
does
not require periodic seal replace
ment
or lubrication
and mounts
nearly identically to the original
valve
,
using
the
same
tank
se
lector plate and
mounting
hard
ware. The
new
handle
complies
with airworthiness directive 47
43-02, with no pointer on
the
handle. The new kit is part num-
ber U0411716-500, and
i t
sells for
399. For more information, call
Univair at 888-433-5433 or e-mail
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o
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VINT GE
IRPL NE 9
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-
8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Oct 2007
32/44
BY
DOUG
STEWART
•
shall ecome familiar with all
available
infonnation
...
The first day after my arrival home from EAA AirVen
ture
Oshkosh
'07, with
virtually no time to
savor
all
the
wonderful
experiences
of
that annual
pilgrimage, I
found myself in my office, catching
up
on phone mes
sages and mail
as
I awaited the arrival of two clients in
their
Cardinal,
who
were
to
begin
their training
for the
commercial certificate. I had my handheld transceiver
turned on
to
monitor
the UNICOM frequency and
thus
give me a heads-up
on their
imminent arrival.
Prior
to
tuning to the UNICOM
frequency
I had lis
tened to the automated weather observation system
(AWOS),
not only
to see if
my
weather
observations
matched those of the robot stationed at
the north
end
of the
field,
but
also to see if
any of the pre-recorded
announcements had
changed.
Indeed
,
nothing had
changed there. The usual announcement of Runway
21
being
the
preferred calm-wind runway remained
the
same.
As
well,
the
notice to
airmen
(NOTAM) re
garding the UNICOM frequency change
that had
be
come effective
back
in the beginning of March
was
still
being
broadcast.
When
I heard my client announce
entering
the 4S de
gree for
the
downwind to Runway 21, I
headed out
to
the
ramp. Sure enough,
the
windsock was
hanging
quite
limply, so my client
had
made the proper choice of run
way. But as I
continued
my survey of
the
field, I noticed
a Super
Cub
turning base
to
final for Runway 03. Most
Super Cubs
have
radios, but I didn't
hear this
pilot
an
nounce any of his intentions.
Perhaps
this
was
one of
those
tailwheel pilots who
doesn't like
to
use the
radio
unless he
has
to . Or per
haps it was a NORDO (no radio) Super Cub. Whatever
the case,
the pilot
certainly seemed to
know how
to
fly
his airplane as he executed a beautiful short-field land
ing, touching
down
on his large tundra tires in a perfect
three-point landing.
As
the
Cub taxied
up
to
the
self-serve fuel
pump
I
strolled in
that
direction. (By now, my inbound cli
ent
was
on
a
mid-field downwind
for
Runway
21.)
As
I
approached the Cub,
it looked very familiar,
and
I
3
OCTOBER 2 7
realized that
the pilot
of
this
PA-18
had
been a for
mer client
of
mine. Indeed he
had
been
one heck of
a
challenge
for
me,
as
an
instructor.
His
stick
and
rud
der skills were wonderful, so that
had not
been
the
challenge.
What had been
a Sisyphean
chore
for me
was
trying
to help
this pilot in
overcoming his
haz
ardous
attitudes.
At the forefront
of these
was
his
anti-authority
attitude.
Prior
to
coming
to me
as a student pilot,
he had been
flying all
over
the place, without any current
endorse
ments,
and
furthermore
, carrying passengers. It was dif
ficult
getting
through to him that his actions would be
frowned
upon
by the FAA He feigned having difficulty
understanding
why
he
couldn't
fly hi s Cub,
minus
a
transponder,
over Class C airspace. I
could
continue the
list but would run out of space before I finished.
The pilot,
who
shall remain
anonymous,
climbed
out
of
the Cub
with an
excited, "Hey, Doug. Check
out
the
mods I've done
to
my Cub /I He was eager
to
show
me
not only
a
new
200-hp Lycoming engine, but also all
th
e
improvements to his panel.
It
was
no longer
a NORDO
Cub, what
with
some of the latest and greatest in small,
space-saving avionics
now
installed
in
his airplane. Not
only
a transceiver
and transponder
graced
the
panel,
but
a panel-mounted
Garmin
496 was there, as well.
As
I
walked up
to
get
a
closer look my clients
were
now
touching down
on Runway 21. The pilot of
the
Cub
said
to
me:
Can
you believe those folks in that airplane
that just landed . They not only didn't announce a single
word on
the UNICOM, but
th
ey landed
on the wrong
runway as well. Someone should say
something to
them
before they hurt somebody /I
"Sam,/I
I won't
use
his
real
name here) what
fre
quency were you on?/I I asked. "122.8,"
he
replied . "Uh
did YOll listen to the
AWOS
before you got here?" I
now
asked . "No, I just came overhead and looked
at the
sock
you know those
AWOS
things can't
ever
trust 'em," he responded. "And what was the sock
doing
when
you looked
at
it?" was my
next question.
"Hang
ing limp," he said.
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8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Oct 2007
33/44
"Well, Sam, if
you had listened to the AWOS
in ad
ments, alternatives available .... "
to
all
the
pertinent weather
information,
like
Nothing is said, specifically, i n 91.103,
about NOTAMs
ceiling, winds, and altimeter setting, you would
which
might include frequency changes; navaid outages;
also
heard that
the
preferred
calm-wind
runway
airport closures,
both temporary
as well as permanent;
Runway
Two
One.
And
i
you
had listened further,
fuel availability, or the lack thereof;
the
activity of
SUA
have heard
that 'effective March I, 2007, the
(special use airspace);
and that old bugaboo,
especially
UNICOM
frequency
for the
airport
is
123.05.'
It's
post September
11, TFRs.
Nothing
is
mentioned,
spe
for five
months
now, Sam." A pained look
cifically, in the
FAR
about having current publications,
embarrassment
started
to
spread across Sam's face .
such
as a
current chart and
Airport/Facility Directory
A/
"And even if you
hadn't
listened
to the AWOS
if you
FD .
Need I continue the list?
looked at
a current
sec-
I know of several pilots
who
not
Uh
. you
do have
only
don't
have
a
current chart
don't
you, Sam? The
new
with
them,
but
also never have an
came out
back in
the
be
When we wake
up
A/FD on
board,
current
or
other
of May . you would
wise. They choose to rely
on
their
seen the
new
frequency
and
real
ize that
G
PS
for all their available infor
there.
I
hoped
I was
mation,
but then
only
bother
to
some impact. "But Doug,
update
the
database
on their GPS
almost
every
up the frequency
on
my
on
a
once-a
-
year basis,
i
that.
he
proudly said,
and They
use
the
excuse
of
not
calling
had 122.8 there, too."
regulation is
there
for a
briefing, because the wait
"Well, Sam, is
your
database
times
are
ridiculous, now that
Let me check, I said,
Lockheed Martin has taken over."