STRAIGHT AND LEVEL

This month I would like to address

the subject of jUdging aircraft at the
EAA Oshkosh Convention. The sys-
tem is well known to some but others
have little knowledge of how the judg-
ing is actually accomplished. Also,
some people are not in favor of judging
and feel that aircraft should not be put
into competition with one another. On
the other hand, we have people who
are very active in pursuing awards for
their aircraft. Therefore, at the Con-
vention you can choose whether you
would like your aircraft judged or not.
You decide opon registration when
you arrive at the Convention. For
example, we had approximately 817
classics registered and only 214 own-
ers chose to have their aircraft judged.
Along the same line, we had approxi-
mately 132 antiques and only 66 own-
ers chose to have their aircraft judged.
We have two completely separate
teams of judges in the Antique/Classic
area; one team for the classic aircraft
and one team for the antiques.
The chief judge for the classic cate-
gory is George York and the chief
judge for the antiques is Dale Gustaf-
son. Both have been in charge of this
area of reponsibility for a number of
years and both are very well qualified.
Some of the judges who work under
them are past Grand Champion award
winners at Oshkosh. Most judges are
assigned to the category of aircraft they
are best acquainted with. My hat is off
by Espie "Butch" Joyce
to all the people who judge at the Con-
vention. It can be a hot and thankless
job.
The system used at the Convention
is what we call the point system. Each
judge has a judging sheet and a
guideline. This sheet has a checklist of
items with points of value for each
item. On one side of the sheet, points
are added to give a positive score. On
the other side of the sheet are items
that are subtracted from the positive
points . Contenders in different
categories are evaluated by several
judges to determine the winners. The
totals are added and averaged. Then
the airplanes with the highest points
are given recognition in different
categories. Top contenders for Reserve
Grand Champion and Grand Champion
are generally reviewed by all judges so
the best possible choice can be made.
By using this system, we have elimi-
nated personalities in choosing a win-
ner.
The EAA has a publication entitled
The EAA National Judging Manual.
This publication is available at head-
quarters and gives you, in detail, all
the guidelines that are used in judging
of aircraft to EAA standards.
Competition among the aircraft
judged at Oshkosh is stiff. It was my
pleasure to judge for several years in
the classic category, and I have seen
the judging between two aircraft be-
come as detailed as whether or not the
aircraft has Phillips screws or slotted
screws . Also, such details as stainless
steel safety wire versus brass safety
wire have been the determining factor
in who might win an award. [ have
seen aircraft owners come to Oshkosh
expecting to win an award and be dis-
appointed. They would go to the
judges to find out what the discrepen-
cies were and return the next four or
five years correcting one item before
each Convention, eventually winning
an award.
The judging system is valuable in
that it has elevated the quality of resto-
rations considerably over the past
years. Restorations today are far
superior to those of five to 10 years
ago.
At the awards program, all the
judges are introduced and the winners
in each category are called out. This
program takes place the last Thursday
night of the Convention each year at
the Theater in the Woods . This year,
Thursday will be a special day for the
Convention as the awards will be made
a more meaningful part of the Conven-
tion '89. You will read more on the
finale of EAA Oshkosh '89 in future
issues.
This improvement in the quality of
aircraft at Oshkosh each year proves
once again that having a direction and
a goal pays off. Let's all pull in one
direction for the good of aviation. Join
us and have it all .
2 NOVEMBER 1988
T t ~
PUBLICATION STAFF
PUBLISHER
Tom Poberezny
VICE-PRESIDENT
MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS
Dick Matt
EDITOR
MarkPhelps
ART DIRECTOR
Mike Drucks
ADVERTISING
MaryJones
ASSOCIATE EDITORS
Norman Petersen
DickCavin
FEATURE WRITERS
GeorgeA_ Hardie, Jr_
Dennis Parks
EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
Carol Krone
STAFF PHOTOGRAPHERS
Jim Koepnick
Carl Schuppel
JeffIsom
EAAANTIQUE/CLASSIC
DIVISION, INC.
OFFICERS
President VicePresident
Espie"Butch"Joyce M.C."Kelly"Viets
604- Hwy.Street Rt. 2,Box 128
Madison,NC27025 Lyndon, KS66451
919/427-0216 913/828-3518
Secretary Treasurer
GeorgeS.York E.E."Buck"Hilbert
181 SlobodaAve. P.O.Box145
Mansfield,OH44906 Union,IL60180
419/529-4378 815/923-4591
DIRECTORS
RobertC. "Bob"Brauer JohnS.Copeland
9345S.Hoyne 9JoanneDrive
Chicago,IL60620 Westborough,MA01581
312/779-2105 508/366-7245
PhilipCoulson WilliamA.Eickhoff
28415SpringbrookDr. 41515thAve. ,N.E.
Lawton,MI49065 St. PeterSburg,FL33704
616/624-6490 813/823-2339
CharlesHarris StanGomoll
3933SouthPeoria 104290thLane,NE
P.O.Box904038 Minneapolis,MN55434
Tulsa,OK74105 6121784-1172
918/742-7311
RobertD."Bob"Lumley
Dale A. Gustafson N104W20387
7724 Shady Hill Drive WillowCreekRd.
Indianapolis,IN 46278 Colgate,WI53107
317/293-4430 414/255-6832
ArthurR. Morgan GeneMorris
3744North51stBlvd. 115CSteveCourt ,R.R.2
Milwaukee,WI 53216 Roanoke,TX76262
414/442-3631 817/491-9110
DanielNeuman S.H." Wes"Schmid
1521 BerneCircleW. 2359LefeberAvenue
Minneapoli s, MN 55421 Wauwatosa,WI 53213
612/571-0893 414/771-1545
DIRECTOR EMERITUS
S.J. Wittman
7200 S.E.85th Lane
Ocala,FL 32672
904/245-7768
ADVISORS
JohnA. Fogerty StevenC.Neese
RR2,Box70 2009HighlandAve.
Roberts,WI 54023 AlbertLea,MN56007
715/425-2455 507/373-1674
PeterHawks
Sky Way Bid.,Suite 204
655 Sky Way
San CarlosAirport
San Carlos,CA 94070
415/591-7191
NOVEMBER1988. Vol.16, No.11
Copyright 1988by the EMAntique/Classic Division,Inc.All rights reserved.
Contents
2 StraightandLevel /byEspie"Butch"Joyce
4 A/CNews/byMarkPhelps
6 Members'Projects/byNormPetersen
7 PlanesandPeople
8 VintageLiterature/byDennisParks
9 LetterstotheEditor
10 PassItToBuck/byE.E."Buck"Hilbert
14 OshkoshShots/byNormPetersen
16 PhantomDreams/byMarkPhelps
22 UpsandDownsofaJ-2/
Page 16
Page 22
InterviewbyGeneChase
26 WelcomeNewMembers
27 VintageTrader
31 MysteryPlane/byGeorgeHardieJr.
FRONT COVER ... Doug Combs flies his Luscombe Phantom over
the Nevada landscape. If it hadn't been so dry at Oshkosh for this
year'sConvention,thisair-to-airphotowould havehad auniqueback-
drop.As it was,it looks likeitcould have been oversouthernWiscon-
sin. (Photo by Randall Hoopingarner)
REAR COVER ... This is a Howard Levy photo of a Pitcairn PA-7
Mailwing. The aircraft is currently registered to Stephen Pitcairn, a
memberofthe Board ofDirectors of EAA.
ThewordsEM,ULTRALIGHT,FLYWITHTHEFIRSTTEAM, SPORTAVIATION,andthelogosofEXPERIMENTAL
AIRCRAFTASSOCIATION INC., EMINTERNATIONALCONVENTION,EMANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION INC. ,
INTERNATIONALAEROBATIC CLUB INC., WARBIRDSOFAMERICA INC., are registered trademarks.THE EAA
SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EMAVIATION FOUNDATION INC. and EMULTRALIGHT CONVENTION are
trademarks of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above associations is strictly
prohibited.
Editorial Policy: Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles
are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor. Material
shouldbesentto:Editor,TheVINTAGEAIRPLANE,WittmanAirfield,3000PobereznyRd. ,Oshkosh,WI54903-3086.
Phone:414/426-4800.
The VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by EAA AntiquelClassic Division,
Inc., ofthe ExperimentalAircraftAssociation, Inc. and is publishedmonthlyatWittmanAirfield, 3000Poberezny Rd.,
Oshkosh,WI 54903-3086. SecondClassPostagepaidatOshkosh,WI 54901 andadditionalmailingoffices.Member-
ship rates for EMAntique/Classic Division,Inc.are $18.00 forcurrent EAA membersfor 12 monthperiod of which
$12.00isforthepublicationofTheVINTAGEAIRPLANE.Membershipisopentoallwhoareinterestedinaviation.
ADVERTISING- Antique/ClassicDivisiondoesnotguaranteeorendorseanyproductofferedthroughouradvertis-
ing.Weinviteconstructivecriticismand welcomeanyreportof inferiormerchandiseobtainedthroughouradvertising
so that corrective mmeasurescan be taken.
Postmaster: Send address changes to EMAntique/Classic Division, Inc., Wittman Airfield, 3000 Poberezny Rd. ,
Wittman Airfield,Oshkosh,WI 54903-3086.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3
Compiled by Mark Phelps
The Stearman "open for business".
NEW YORKER IN AIC PARADISE
Nino Lama of Ithaca, New York,
president of the new Straight-Tail
Cessna Club attended the EAA Chap-
ter One Fly-in at Gilbert Field in Win-
terhaven, Florida. Chapter President
Rod Spanier greeted Nino and made
sure he met all the folks he had been
reading about for years in SPORT AVI-
ATION and THE VINTAGE
AIRPLANE. Nino got busy with his
camera and recorded the following
shots . He also invites interested parties
to join his Straight-Tail Cessna Club at
28 Forest Acre Drive, Ithaca , New
York 14850. Tel. 607/273-4184. Dues
are $)5.00 a year and there is a quar-
terly newsletter. He says that since the
club was formed, he's averaging a
member a day and currently has 110
Doc Duff, Nino and Boeing Stearman.
happy Cessna owners signed up.
Doc Duff and Nino (notice smile).
4 NOVEMBER 1988
Lyle Flagg, Nino and the Corben Baby Ace.
Merle Lilly and his Emeraude.
Bill Doty, Jr., and fiancee Cindy Choate.
Bill is a captain for Northwest Airlines.
Cindy is a private pilot. He proposed in
the Vultee at 12,000 feet!
FLYING BOBCATS TYPE CLUB
Jon Larson called to point out that
not only did we spell his name wrong
but neglected to mention his FL YING
BOBCATS in our annual type club list.
Those interested in the club for owners
and enthusiasts of the Cessna T-50
twin, officially named the Bobcat and
often called the "Bamboo Bomber" can
contact Jon at 3821 53rd Street South-
east , Auburn , Washington 98002. Tel.
206/833-1068. There is a quarterly
newsletter and dues are by voluntary
donation .
Bill Doty, Jr., Cindy Choate, Bill Doty, Sr. and Pat Doty with the Vultee.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
MEMBER'S PROTECTS...
u
by Norm Petersen
.....
Frank has owned and operated the
Sandwich Airport for 30 years, at one time
he had seven J-3 Cubs on the line at
$7.50 per hour - wet! He now has two J-3s
which he enjoys in retirement along with
two sons who are also pilots. We look
forward to seeing '396 at EAA Oshkosh
'89.
Above: Busy recovering his Stinson 10,
N26279, SIN 7560, is Ron Ferrara (EAA
299659, AlC 11862) of 683 Rampart Lane,
Murfreesboro, TN 37130. The rebuild in-
cludes all new wood, cables and Stits
covering. Ron, who is President of EAA
Chapter 419, says the Stinson has a C-85
Continental engine with an 8-quart oil
sump and has 40 gallons of fuel on board.
The status of the rebuild is at the six
month mark!
6 NOVEMBER 1988
Brand new Antique/Classic member
Frank Ament (EAA 308832, AlC 12877),
P.O. Box 66, Sandwich, IL 60548 sent in
the photos of his totally restored Piper
J-3 " Cub", NC92396, SIN 16858, on which
he spent "hundreds and hundreds of ten-
der, loving hours" during the rebuild. He
was even able to persuade Sensenich to
build an original five-lamination wood
prop for the J-3! Equipped with a Scott
3200 tailwheel, the Cub is especially nice
on rough sod.
Below: This very pretty 1946 Globe Swift,
N78120, SIN 2120, is owned by Ed Davis
(EAA 319926) of 1135 Lakeside Court,
Naperville, IL 60565. Purchased in Tulsa,
OK in 1987, the Swift has been completely
refurbished with new glass, new Airtex
interior, EL T, Narco Escort II and strobes.
The aircraft was completely disassem-
bled, stripped, primed and painted with
Imron. The colors are white with bur-
gundy/grey stripes. The landing gear
overhaul included retractor/down lock
actuators and struts. Ed reports the Swift
has 1700 hours total time with 900 hours
SMOH on the 125 hp Continental engine.
The all-metal, two-place Swift is based at
Clow Airport.
Planes & People
Stewart Wescott and his 1952 D35 Bonanza
By volunteers of the Antique/Classic
Press Committee
Larry O' Attilio and Pamela Foard,
Co-Chairmen
(EAA 150262, A/C 8265)
1820 N. 166th St.
Brokfield, WI 53005
It is not surprisingto find that many
pilots developed their interest in
airplanesat an earlyage. StewartWes-
cott saw his first plane when he was
four and wantedoneforChristmas. He
was obliged with a low-wing toy
airplane that he kept for years. That
toy led to some bigger airplanes in
adult life including a Cherokee 180,
Cessna 172 and 150 and the Bonanza
pictured here. Stewart is also working
on a Glasair that is 40 percent com-
pleted. He lives rightonan airportand
can taxi to his house. Wearereminded
ofthe sunnytimes in whichthe federal
government envisioned this situation
for most Americans. That was when
somedreamersonthePotomacthought
a roadable plane should be developed
so we could commute by air. Well let
us not drool, but compliment Stewart
formakingthatideaapersonalreality.
The Bonanzareall y is prettytheway
Stewart has it painted - beige with
orange and dark brown trim. Notable
additions to this 1952airplane include;
tip tanks, Clevelands, Beech tail im-
provements, 20 gallon fuselage tank,
one-piece windshield, and a Continen-
tal E225.Theupholsteryhassheepskin
covers and the IFR panel includes
KXJ55s and a Northstar loran. Inci-
dentally,Stewartreports no mid-conti-
nent gap with hi s Northstar when
crossing the U.S. from his home base
in Washingtonstate.Thisis anairplane
that likes the long trips so Stewart is
able to talkofhi sexperiencesflying to
Alaska north ofthe Arctic Circle.That
triptookhimupthe"Trench,"(Watson
Laketo McKenzie) ,andoverthe fields
ofthe great Gold Rush. When he got
to Eagle the locals thought he was the
mail plane. Though hestayed with the
townspeople it wasn'tatthe"Plaza"-
meaning no running waterorany con-
veni ences . Well it still soundsinterest-
ing and we bet it is an experience we
should all have sometime,
Hmmmmm?
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
by
Civil Flying 1919
With the end of the war in Europe
the growth and development of civil
aviation began for earnest in America.
Thoughthe mostrepresentativefeature
oftheerawasbarnstormingandtheair
mail era, there were also efforts at
commercial passenger service.
One ofthese efforts was the estab-
lishment ofa passenger service based
in ManhattantoferryWallStreetbrok-
ers from Long Island .Theservice was
started by Lawrence Sperry and How-
ard Heindel!. This servicekepta small
fleet ofseaplanes busy picking up pa-
trons in the morning and landing them
in Manhattan in time for the start of
the business day.
The planes were also used to give
joy rides around the area. The follow-
ing newspaperaccountsgivesomeidea
of the public reaction to the flights
which were given from the Cliffton
Hotel at Patchogue, Long Island and
East Hampton, New York in the sum-
merof 1919.
Theaircraft used wasaCurtissType
F Flying Boat. The Sperry flying boat
became one ofthe first to be adapted
to amphibious operation by the instal-
lation ofa retractable landing gear in
1915.
Theclippingsbelow camefrom ma-
terials in the library that belonged to
Howard Heindell who later developed
the Argonaut Pilgrim amphibian.
CurtissType FFlying Boat.
EAST HAMPTON, N. Y.,
FRIDAY, JULY 18, 1919
AEROPLANE
HERESUNDAY
EveryoneWillHaveOppor-
tunity to Fly
WILL LAND ON DAVIDS LAN
Sperrr Corp. SeDdin. Out FlriD'
Howard Heindell, formerly pro-
duction manar:er at Gard@n City, of
Machine to Demonltr.te Sal.
the Curti rs Co. wall in town on Weci
nesday of thi. week making arrange-
and San. Flrln.
ments fOT 8 landing place fot his fly-
SEE An Electrifying Novelty
-- Commencing FRIDAY, JULY 25th
---'THE---
THRILLS-SenSatiOnal/
anda Physical Benefit
Sperry
AERO FLYING BOAT
Take-OffDaily-BeachFront-HOTEL CLIFFTON
Will male revuJar Siahl-Sccini Trip' Over &lid abolll Palc;hoaue Ba1.
m aerial divcnUcmeol.ia ofcrccf Ihe amUHmCllI lovini public at Ih. Domioal coet of
$15.00 PER ROUND TRIP.
__2 and 4 Passenger stillflying
SPECIAL NOTICE- OwiDa to lisnilccf CIIf'tCmClll
thi. city, we advise YOII 10 mue early appoiDlment. with ow pilot, Lieut. WIWAM
WALTON. HQU) ClidCoA, PhoD. 38.
SafcttPlaDct-Saf, Devica-Safety Pilob. Th. mOIl weaaivelAd lompl.teI,
funaiahed lliaht o... iu America.
SPERRY FLYING CORPORATION
III FARMINGDAL. L J. ' N.Y. 04IceIry...783S
Lawredc41 Sperry. Pret. William SlotrDler, Maallu.t Piredot.
B
8 NOVEMBER 1988
ing machine, which he is
down frC'nl Southampton on
He with him Lieut. I:dward Frost,
of the British Royal Flyinjr Corps.
Lieut. Fro!\t hu Rown planes iR Cnn-
ad., Fnnre and and Ilt the
of of the armistic.
was on the French front. Bofh of
these pilots are coming to Eallt Hamp-
ton in the interests of th4! Sperry
Flyinll Cor!loration, which believes
that the quickest. ,vay to Rcquaint
the with flying is to give them
an opportunity to finrl Ollt how lale
lind sat,e it They fly 8 Curti!lll
100 horllc power biplane, the same as
is Uged by the U. S. Government.
While at Southampton these two
pilots carr:cd 214 personB Rnd t:\erj.
of them _WIIS jrreatly pleased with
the-sensation and excitement of the
trial. - Several ot the passeng('rll
shewed ,their interest In flying by c;.om-
ing to the fiel.! daily for a ride
th,ouj(-h the "ir. Irving Terry, pro-
prietor of the Irving Houlle, has heeon..
,p every day since the pilots hay,
lIeen in Southampton.
Howard Heinrlell has had seYell
yesrII tn the fl ying gamc:
a18<1 had , charj1.' c of the prolit1e---
tioll ' of ' the N-C fly ing
boata, which madc the
flight. ' ' It i!1 the intention of the
Sperry Flying Corporation te con-
tinue ' this air scrvice of\'
bland tbrougl!out the mOJIt.b ctI'I
.:f
u ..: t\;.'- . 1. ,L'I 1j1llt.. rertnflr.
f.they will 'have plenty 'of
catldl!'! for ' ridell dariqg theil' lIt,ay 1ft-
Ea.qt l-lampton. )._
1"he flying machine will IImli.... o ..
Davids Inne allrl will IIlske tlJilt ..
helt(lquarters while in East
Airplane Trips
Prove Popular
at Patchogue
.'
It"CIAI. TO THPI IIKft .'Ln. )
PATClluOL: r:. I.. I..
1'C'lI l l1rc of Yt'stl'n.hty wa3
tile fIIlhlll In front uf tile Clltrlon Holel
o f A 1\'0. bORt of the
Sperry Fl r ln/.: Corpornllon. ot "'Armln,,-
II .. ",. L. I. I'tlot W. P . W"lton and Allflllt-
AIIII PlIot 1-:. J' . lIrenn"n wt'rfl kE'pt !JUIII
AU day tul(lnlf up at onf'
dollar 1\ mInute fare. The
whI ch hall he!'n lIamad ,he Cliff ton, "'1"
ull dllY by hundl"J:ds ot 1I0j ourncu
who cum., In About tlfty
",pre IlcCol11mc.dntctl
"ATCHoaUE'S AERIAL TAXI
Pal c ho'::IIE' . L. 1..1111)' 25- - \YIIII :l 11I
''"" It n ll or R!' IIport, L . I.. a
JiE'llt r nant. In Ihe LT. H, Air ,,('rvl ee. nl'-
rlvE' d hl're ThllrsilllY oflernonn with n
N ode! I'" 1no hOr/Hl pnw!' r h oa t
iro m the Sperry Corporation',. pl a nt Itt
J\milyvi1\c with which h e will. hegln-
11 1n,::- thill Rft!'rnoon. make dnlly
,,('n/:, el' !'arrylng flights over tho Great
t;oul h
ThE' hoat I" moort'd In front of t1: c
CIIITt o n Hotel n ear the roo t o r Ray a\o.
IIIIf\ thE' adut or will mako tho C llfUdn
III!' hea ilquul'tcl''' . 'fhlR 1M p a rt of the
I'I"'I- r), c Onlpa ny' " plan to QC'lualnt th.!
J>ohllt' with fl}lnl; b y 1'1 an op-
portunity 10 1'0 up In 1\ !laCe machlno
'wlth n. "klllcd pilot {or A. f c c. The
J. I>t n has bcen worked out with
III ROllthampton nnd EaRt H a mpton. At
fi('OuthllOlpton . al o ne. tho I'Ipcrry avlll-
1('01'11 ha\'e tnken up nertrly 250 pass CIl-
J:'!'rs. Jnlng Tp.rry. p r oprlE'tor ot the
l rvln/:' liked It !l0 \\' ell he went
IICVCTRI da')' 8 In lIucccslllon.
f'nt erprtsc Is In or " ' II-
,Iam Rtot'rmcr. mana/:'In director of
1he Flying Corporation. aoll
}lo\\'ard Helndell, formerly production
,nanRl;'et of the Curtllll! pl&nt at Gar.
aen City
Letters TO The
TAYLORCRAFTER
Dear Mark,
My apologies to you for taki ng so
long to get a letter off to you. I enjoyed
the arti cle on my Taylorcraft (Taylor-
craft smanship, June) very much. I
can' t tell you what a thrill it was to see
my airpl ane on the cover. That was an
unexpected surpri se. Thanks too for
the extra copi es. We have had one
framed and it is hangi ng in our famil y
room. I look forward to seeing you
agai n sometime. I am continuing the
restoration of my Cul ver Cadet and am
looking for a Fairchild 24 to fl y now
and restore later. If you know of any,
please let me know
Thanks again ,
A.C. Hutson
104 Woolman Lane
Griffin , Georgia 30223
BUT IT HAD A BIG SINK. ..
Dear Mr. Phelps,
Reference is made on page 3 of the
June issue of THE VINTA GE
AIRPLANE wherein is found the
legend for your back cover picture of
the Boeing 80- B trimotor. I quote thi s
in part: "There was also a bathroom
with hot and cold running water. .. "
The itali cs are mine. Now, I was in the
airline industry for many years and not
once did [ ever hear of anyone taking
a bath on an of any
airpl ane which was equipped for such
an act of personal hygiene. Surely your
reference is to what is properl y call ed
a lavatory or, just as accurately but less
deli cately perhaps, the toilet. Most avi-
ati on folks are fine, upstanding,
friendl y and intell igent people, but for
some reason an awful lot of them seem
to have dozed-off during their gram-
mar classes. Even the leading aviation
magazines oft en pl ace more emphasis
on slang and trade j argon than on sim-
pi e, straightforward and precise En-
gli sh, [s there some immut abl e law
whi ch prevents us from being literate?
Sincerely,
Edward Peck
Waddy , Kentucky
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
PASS II 10
--1]
An information exchange column with input from readers.
by Buck Hilbert
(EAA 21 , AIC 5)
P.O. Box 145
Union, IL 60180
"Wow! A 35-70 Porterfield' " And
the person I said it to was looking all
around for a rifle , not an aeroplane.
This was his first exposure to the Por-
terfield Flyabout of the mid-1930s. We
were at the Waco Fly-in at Hamilton ,
Ohio and the year was either 1973 or
'74. This poor little machine was set-
ting in a hangar looking just about as
shabby as 30 years of neglect could
make it. I was drawn to it as were a
few other people and eventuall y Bill
Hogan gave me the owner's phone
number.
I called the fella only to find out
there was no way he was going to sell
it , especially to me! I guess I came on
kind of strong with my remarks as to
how could he do that to the poor
airplane and if he left it that way much
longer it'd be nothing but scrap rather
than junk like it was now. I guess I
woke him up though, because from the
records I see that he had the Hogans
recover it for him and then overhaul
the engine as well. This was all done
in 1974, the Hogans flew the airplane
a couple of hours and then put it back
in the hangar again. With about 130
hours total time on the airframe and
almost a zero-time engine SMOH!
Again I was down at the Waco reun-
ion-this time in 1982. In talking to
Bill I learned that the airplane was still
there and still just "setting." Again I
called the man, and this time he was
no more happy to hear from me than
he was the last time . "This was my
father's airplane, and I'm not about to
sell it!" Well again I took him to task
about it just setting and deteriorating
and insisted that he do something with
it. He did! He sold it to Dick Simpson,
a friend of a friend who had grown up
with the Hogans and had known about
this airplane from the very first time it
10 NOVEMBER 1988
E. E. "Buck" Hilbert
landed at Hamilton. This was okay
with me . Even though I was disap-
pointed that I didn't get the machine I
knew that Dick would really take care
of it.
Now the real attraction I had to this
machine is that I could remember when
I was a budding Iineboy at the old Elm-
hurst Airport outside Chicago. This
was a new airplane then . A racy-sporty
performance machine in comparison to
the "Cubs," Taylorcrafts and Aeroncas
of that day. This even had a round en-
gine on it with 70 horsepower. It would
race along at 95 mph indicated! That
was a flat 25 big ones better than your
average "Cub." Of course the stall
speed was also 20 mph faster, but it
sure was a good cross-country
airplane! I would add here, that some-
day I hoped I could handle one of those
hot little airplanes. Now here it is fifty
years later and I have just come in from
the hangar where one of these little
jewels is ensconced. I flew it home,
here in Union, Illinois all the way from
Birmingham, Alabama.
When Dick finally was able to pur-
chase the Porterfield a couple of things
came to light. The total time on the
airplane was "estimated" to be less
than 140 hours. It had been delivered
from the Porterfield factory at Kansas
City to Hamilton, Ohio in 1936, a new
airplane. It never left Hamilton until
Dick came and picked it up and flew
it home to Birmingham, Alabama.
From what I have been able to learn,
the original owner had "gone West"
several years before I came on the
scene. The estate proceedings just
The Porterfield as it appeared on its "For Sale" post-up.
caused the poor little machine to lie
idle for so long that even the original
"N" Number was given away when it
was dropped from the register. It was
NC 16490. The Hogans got the number
NC 17490 issued to the airplane when
it was re-registered and put back on
the books. New logs were made up to
replace the originals that had somehow
disappeared into the past as things
sometimes do, and the total times
shown in these log books are backed
up by the Hogans ' testimony . They had
known the machine since it arrived
there.
Dick Simpson took some dual in the
airplane, and then enough practice solo
to assure himself that he could handle
this hot machine. After all , most of hi s
flying experience has been in "Cubs"
and then for the past 20-or-so years in
his Cesna 182 with a training wheel up
front. He just needed a little practice,
is all.
Well, he made it to Birmingham ,
and flew it a little around home only
to have the front main bearing in the
LeBlond eat itself up. Guess what!?
Overhaul time! And that he did. The
whole bottom came out of the engine
and was re-done. Then the top as well,
and for the next two years he had a
hobby. He cleaned and he lightened,
he reworked and he lightened, he re-
moved about sixty-five pounds of bat-
tery-box and wiring, and heavyweight
plywood floorboards and baggage
compartment door, and side windows
and extras that had been added to this
airplane to help it along, only it made
it heavier than it really needed to be.
In the meantime Dick acquired an E-2,
a J-2, a J-3 and still had his 182. Then
he came across a Fleet Two. And that
was the camel that fell through the
straw. He suddenly realized there was
no way he could ever finish all these
projects . This is where I came in .
I had looked at the airplane when he
had it stuffed in his hangar all di s-
asssembled, with the engine all apart,
and listened to what he was doing de-
spite the difficulty of locating parts and
such . I expressed a more-than-idle in-
terest in hi s final result. He got it all
back together after EAA Oshkosh ' 85 ,
and I went down to look at it. I was
enthused, but not enough to spend any
money. I had three kids in college and
had just retired from UAL so I wasn ' t
in any shape to let go of my left hip
pocket flap .
Then again in '86 Dick offered me the
airplane, and again in '87. He knew I
secretly wanted it , and that it was just
a matter of time. Well , the time was
NOW! I went down there and flew the
machine August 25th, bought it and
started home with it Friday the 26th.
Bingo! Right ? The realization of a boy-
hood dream. I got another dream
airplane! Wow! How lucky can you
get?
Well , 48 minutes after I took off for
Union from Talledega, Alabama , I was
si tting on the airport at Guntersville,
Alabama with a three cylinder LeB-
lond engine . " What?" Yes! I had stuck
exhaust valves on both the lower cylin-
ders! Dick Lusk from Guntersville, a
retired Air Force mechanic , jumped in
an gave me hi s full attention. We diag-
nosed the problem and got with it.
Marvel Mystery Oil and a little exer-
cise got them working again, and two
and a half hours later I was on my way
again. I was headed for Tullahoma,
Tennessee, but circumnavigated the
new ARSA at Huntsville, Alabama. I
widened my circle of uncertainty when
I cut across those big green hill s. When
I found the road northeast of Huntsville
it was the wrong one and the town I
thought was Tullahoma was Shel-
byville. I decided to press on. I got as
far as Murfreesboro about another 25
miles north when I had a valve stick
again. Thi s time I knew what to do. I
borrowed a car, buzzed into town,
picked up a couple cans of leaded reg-
ular , some 50-to-one outboard motor
oil and a quart of Marvel Mystery into
the gas tank along with the leaded reg-
ular and I liberally saturated the valve
stems, guides, springs and half the rest
of the airplane with the same stuff.
After half an hour all was working
again and after being pleasantly sur-
prised that the lineman knew how to
prop an airplane , I was on my way.
Another detour around the east side
of Nashville and then westward to-
wards Harrisburg, Illinois, my planned
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
An interior shot of the Porterfield's cockpit.
RON spot. I didn ' t get there! As I was
approaching Hopkinsville, Kentucky
just north of Fort Campbell, the LeB-
lond let me know it had had enough
for the day. I looked at my watch,
decided to humor the engine and
landed. I couldn't have picked a better
place or better time. The people there
were super! Absolutely SUPER! They
gave me a courtesy car and offered me
all kinds of help. I met one of our EAA
types there. Wish I knew his name for
sure, but Bill showed me his Bellanca
Cruisair, and then offered to drive me
into town or help me anyway that he
could. When I found out that he had
been working all day after putting in a
full night shift out at Fort Campbell in
their simulator program, I suggested he
go on home and get some sleep. He
promised that if I was there the next
morning and needed help he:d be more
than happy to assist.
I drove into town , got a motel,
called ~ i k Simpson and let him off
the hook for the night, and after a bowl
of soup I bought some Lemon Pledge
polish, some more oil (Mystery and
outboard) and went back out to the
airplane. I liberally doused all the val-
ves, added a little more to the gas, ro-
tated the engine 50 or 60 times, and
cleaned up the whole airplane before
I went back to town and sacked out.
I was up at oh dark thirty and actu-
ally lifted off at 6:55 the next morning.
The engine was running great! So great
that I made it all the way to Effingham,
Illinois where I had planned to stop
because I knew they had auto gas. Here
again I was made as welcome as a
warm rain in summer. Courtesy car, a
friendly smile, and a pat on the back-
side, and after breakfast I was on my
way again toward home. I had a dozen
or more alternates picked out in case
the LeBlond acted up again, but I
threatened to call home for a trailer if
it did it again and firmly "told" that
engine it was replaceable with an 0-
290-0 if it didn' t want to do the job.
The bluff worked and it ran like a jewel
the rest of the way.
A little light rain started about
Champaign, Illinois and persisted all
the way to Joliet , which was where I
had planned my next Mogas fuel stop.
A happy tailwind was pushing pretty
good and the fuel gauge said there was
plenty of reserve so I continued on to
the Funny Farm. I landed with six and
a half gallons still in the 17-gallon
tank .
I guess the reason I'm telling all of
you about this is because in my " Pass
it to Buck" column of last month , I
advocated the YFR direct type of fly-
ing I have just completed. Well , maybe
it wasn't all that direct, but it was
YFR , and it was all done about 1,200
to I ,500 feet above ground level , and
it was very scenic and without radios ,
loran, or federal assistance. I saw only
ONE airplane the entire way. (So much
for our crowded skies.) And 1 never
had less than eight or ten miles visibil-
ity all the way home. I also have a
tremendous sense of personal ac-
complishment and a really nice looking
airplane in my hangar to boot!
A look at Juptner's Yol. 6 will tell
you all the technical detail about the
little beast. You won't find thi s par-
ticular airplane listed though because
it was dropped from the register, as I
said, but it is serial number 190 man-
ufactured May 19, 1936. Its Orangish
Red with irridescent blue trim about as
original as you can get. It 's perhaps
the world's lowest-time antique with
less then 160 hours total time. No
dings & cracks in the cowling or metal
work , and although it isn ' t a super
sanitary trophy winner, it is all original
and it's MINE!
12 NOVEMBER 1988
Oshkosh Shots
With the 145 Warner fired up, Gene Chase prepares to taxi his 1933 Davis D-1-W to the
Antique/Classic area for the Parade of Flight on Tuesday afternoon. Passenger in front
cockpit is Lars Svarre of Nykobing (F), Denmark.
"The smaller the plane, the bigger the crew!" Bill Schlapman holds the tailskld of his
Heath Parasol N752Y, while Munsil Williams drives the "tow truck" and pilot, Jack
Wojahn, watches for traffic. Note unusual amount of "up" elevator travel.
14 NOVEMBER 1988
...
HeadingoutforWestChester,PAareAlCmembersTom&EileenMacariointheir160hp
KinnerpoweredStardusterTooN14MM. NoteuN"struts,GreatLakestypelandinggear
andhand-madealuminumwheelpants! LookforTom & Eileen nextyearintheirnewly
restored PA-12, whoserebuild storyhasbeen featured inThe VINTAGE AIRPLANE.
~
Arealeye-catcherwasDickGrigsby's1932WACOUECNC18613withitsbrilliantorange
paintscheme.FromPacificPalisades,CA,thepreHycabinWACOwontheOutstanding
Award intheSilverAgecompetition.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
The First Airplane To Bear Don Luscombe's Name
One of the best ways to track avia-
tion history is to read about its people.
Human triumphs, tragedies and foibles
are much more dynamic barometers of
progress than engineering equations or
corporate balance sheets. It ' s the
airplanes themselves that remain, how-
ever, to remind us of the dreams of the
people we read about.
Don Luscombe's career straddled
the formative years of lightplane de-
16 NOVEMBER 1988
by Mark Phelps
velopment. With the Monocoupe, he
brought pilots in out of cold, open
cockpits to cabin comfort. He also ad-
vanced aluminum monococque pro-
duction technique to a practical level,
opening the door for light aircraft as
we know them today.
Doug Combs and Linda Gamble of
Incline Village, Nevada own a gener-
ous slice of that history . Doug calls it ,
"the first and the last," of 22 Luscombe
Phantoms built between 1934 and
1941. He says that reliable sources
who worked in the Luscombe factory
indicate that the cannibalized fuselage
of the prototype was modified and used
to complete the last Phantom, serial
number 13 1, from "parts in stock" in
1941. Doug brought his airplane to
EAA Oshkosh '88 and flew home to
Nevada with the Contemporary Age
Champion Trophy. The story of this
airplane incl udes facts about the men,
the metal and the organization that
built it.
Don Luscombe drove ambulances in
Paris duri ng World War I and cadged
airplane rides with French pilots in ex-
change for cigarettes . When he re-
turned from Europe, he studied mer-
chandisi ng at Iowa State University
and opened a small advertising agency
in Davenport. His taste for flying re-
turned when he visited the local airport
and he bought a crated, surplus Jenny
for $850 and learned to fly. The Jenny
and even its replacement, a Swallow,
were too drafty and cumbersome for
Luscombe's taste . He yearned for a
two-seat airplane that he could easily
trundle out of the hangar by it s tail-
wheel-and not have to gird himself in
leather to fly.
Inspiration came in the form of a
Belgian design known as the Demonty-
Ponce let that first flew in 1924. It was
a cabin two-place that looked more like
a fish than a bird, but its cabin kept the
occupants warm and unfettered by the
slipstream. Contrary to popular opin-
The Phantom featured a tunnel cowl-shown here with the Red Barn in the background.
ion of the time, the pilot was able to
control the little ship without the wind
in his face to guide him.
Luscombe was serious enough to
build a cardboard mock-up of his ideal
airplane but needed more expert help
to build a prototype . He formed the
Central States Aero Company and
hired a Dubuque, Iowa farmboy named
Clayton Folkerts who showed a natural
talent for turning cardboard concepts
into nuts and bolts. Thus was born the
Monocoupe , the airplane that brought
personal flight out of the age of the
open cockpit and allowed pilots to
dress in shirtsleeves rather than leather
armor and goggles.
A succession of engines, airframe
improvements, management changes
and sales rollercoasters followed in the
years leading to the Great Depression.
Late in 1932, sales trends looked par-
ticularly disastrous. Fewer than 35
airplanes had been delivered over the
course of the year and the out look for
1933 was even more bleak. At the
time, the company was known as the
Monocoupe Corporation and was
owned by Phil Ball. When he died in
October 1933 after a series of heart at-
tacks, Don Luscombe left the company
he had started and moved into the old
Butler Blackhawk factory in Kansas
City with yet another fresh idea.
The Monocoupe had been a tube and
fabric airplane, like almost all
airplanes of the day. Sheet aluminum
was used to form cowls, wheel pants,
fairings and some wing leading edges
but the structural construction of
choice was a steel tube skeleton co-
Flying wires were added to tame ground-
handling to a workable level.
VINTAGE AI RPLANE 17
vered with grade-A cotton.
Aluminum alloy was first produced
with an electrolytic process in 1885.
The first published article on its use in
aircraft appeared in Flight magazine in
1910. The German firm Durener
Metallwerke developed the all oy
known as duralumin for use on derigi-
bles and later on aircraft such as the
Junkers transports. Pure aluminum is
next only to gold in maleability and
when joined with copper and mag-
nesium in varying combinations pro-
duces the ideal light , corrosion-resis-
tant alloy. Aluminum used in the
monococque format is called "stressed-
skin" construction because the skin it -
self takes on some of the structural
load .
Monococque fusel ages were intro-
duced in 1912 with the French Deper-
dussin wood monopl ane . Wood for-
mers were wrapped with thin plywood
sheets. German transports built by Jun-
kers had been using metal since 1915
and aluminum since 19 I 7 starting with
the J.4.
As early as 1920 the British used
stressed-skin construction on the Short
Silver Streak but early alloys showed
a tendency toward excessive corrosion ,
especially when they came in contact
with salt water as in seaplane applica-
tions. Alloys containing zinc were par-
ticularly susceptible. Anodizing the
metal with aluminum oxide was a way
to combat corrosion.
When Luscombe moved to Kansas
City from Saint Louis, he brought hi s
chief engineer Ivan Driggs and A. K.
Longren, a vigorous proponent of
metal monococque fuselages . Longren
had built a small monococque biplane
and developed a hydraulic stretch press
to form its aluminum panels . Previ-
ously , all curves had to be hammered
out or bent on a sheet metal brake. Lus-
combe saw the stretch press as the key
to low-cost, high-volume production.
Longren's business venture had gone
bankrupt and Luscombe purchased the
press and its rights , believing that he
had discovered the route to inexpen-
sive aircraft production. Using that
method, he thought he could build a
two-place, all metal airplane to sell for
less than $4,000.
Driggs and Lyle Farver designed the
first airplane to bear the Luscombe
name. The Luscombe Phantom was
really an extensively updated Mono-
18 NOVEMBER 1988
coupe 0-145 powered by the Warner
145-hp Super Scarab engine . It had
an all-metal fuselage and aluminum
spars and ribs. The 150-pound fuse-
lage shell could support nine tons
of weight and the wings had strength
in excess of any government stan-
dard. To be practical for production,
the design relied heavily on Lon-
gren's stretch press and it soon became
clear that the machine wasn't up to the
task. Ultimately , Luscombe ' s Dutch
metalsmith, Nick Nordyke hand-
formed the panels on each Phantom
built. He used a power hammer to beat
the metal into shape but it took far too
much time to produce each panel and
Nordyke ' s skill was irreplaceable . In
that sense the Pbantom was failure. In-
stead of an inexpensi ve airplane built
by machines , it became a costl y hand-
made work of craftsmanship .
Producti on woes weren't the onl y
drawback to the Phantom design . The
prototype was completed in May 1934
and flown by company test pilot , Bar-
ton Stevenson. He report ed that the
airplane flew just fine but became a
snarling ti ger when it s wheels came in
contact with the earth . The cantilever
landing gear blended beautifully into
the sleek lines of the fuselage, but as-
symetrical compression of either shock
absorber almost guaranteed a
groundloop . Simply going over a
bump could cause an irreversibl e
\.\m II t CO.

The compound curves of the fuselage were hand-formed by Nick Nordyke.
Phantom 272Y has a vintage OF loop an-
tenna mounted on the roof.
The early Phantoms had the tailwheel
mounted in this aft position, although the
Scott 3200 is a concession to modern
times. Later redesign of the landing-gear
geometry moved the tailwheel to mid-
fuselage.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
swerve. Luscombe himself said, "You
could master the violin easier than the
fancy footwork needed to avoid
groundlooping." Even after extensive
modification of the landing gear in-
cluding the addition of a supplemental
flying wires between the fuselage and
each gear leg, the Phantom was, and
is, a handful on the ground.
In addition to the prototype, 272Y,
seven airplanes were produced at the
Kansas City facility before January
1935. In February the company moved
lock, stock and barrel to Trenton, New
Jersey and the Mercer Airport. Lus-
combe lived in an old inn on the north
end of the field. The building also
served as the company's offices. His
workers lived with him in the inn or
on cots in the factory. Salaries often
went unpaid but the company provided
groceries from the meager cash flow .
Life wasn't easy, but in the Depres-
sion-hardened 1930s, just having a job
was more than most people could
claim. The Mercer Airport was also the
site of Luscombe's fixed base opera-
tion that cared for a Staggerwing, two
Stinsons and a Waco. The Luscombe
Airplane Corporation reorganized as
the Luscombe Airplane Development
Co.
Most of 1935 was spent building
The Phantom's panel, with its rounded top, typifies 1930s styling.
20 NOVEMBER 1988
Phantoms and rebuilding those that had
rolled themselves up. One airplane that
had been damaged in a hard forced
landing was the only one available for
a demonstration flight when the wife
of a Dr. Tschudi from Switzerland
walked in the door shopping for an
airplane. Don promptly took her up for
a demonstration flight and nosed the
Phantom over on landing, flipping it
on its back. Nevertheless, the woman
wrote a check for $6,000 and took a
Phantom home to Europe. The
airplane, HB-EXE, subsequently
toured the couple throughout the conti-
nent as well as the Middle East.
1936 saw Luscombe produce about
a half dozen Phantoms and open its
School of Aeronautics. The School
was originally introduced as an appren-
tice training program and later became
a division of the parent company .
Work began on a simple-to-produce,
two-place companion model of the
Phantom and Frank Speckles won the
Los Angeles based, Ruth Chatterton
Sportsman pilot trophy race with a
Phantom.
Stockholder Hal Hiramson bought a
Phantom in 1937 and had it painted the
shade of bronze that matched his favor-
ite can of beer. If that leads to any
conclusions about his attitude and
lifestyle, they are probably accurate.
He cracked up his Phantom on his first
landing after mistaking the brake han-
dle for the trim actuator.
The young Philadelphian became
enthralled with the company enough to
become a director and took a personal
interest in aircraft sales, much to the
consternation of Luscombe. Hiram-
son's first customer was his brother-in-
law and he insisted on delivering the
airplane to upstate New York person-
ally. En route, he decided to see how
high the Phantom would fly and
blacked out somewhere above 20,000
feet. He awoke in a screaming power
dive at over 300 mph. He managed to
pull out and force-land the airplane
near New Brunswick, New Jersey
about fifty miles from Trenton . The
airplane sustained substantial damage
to its leading edge on the pull-out.
Hiramson, uninjured, was shipped off
to investigate the possibility of Euro-
pean production under license.
Clearly, the Phantom was a transi-
tional airplane. It had been developed
in the hopes of producing an affordable
craft and wound up competing with
Wacos, Stinsons and Fairchilds for the
dollars of wealthy sportspeople with a
sense of adventure--especially on
landing. Between 1934 and 1938 or so
the apple in the eye of Don Luscombe
was still a simple airplane. His ener-
gies were directed at the design of just
such a craft. The Model 90 followed
using a flat-wrap metal construction
technique that wasn't as pretty as the
Phantom's hand-formed compound
curves, but much more practical. With
the advent of the Continental 50-hp flat
engine at a low price, the Model 8
evolved from that design .
In 1938, an Austrian industrialist
named Leopold Klotz who had fled Hi-
tler's Europe bought a large amount of
Luscombe stock and hired a production
manager who alienated the work force
at the factory . When Luscombe was
unable to fire the man, he decided to
sell out. In April 1939 he left the com-
pany that bore his name. Luscombe
spent the rest of his life in Ambler,
Pennsylvania and worked on a four-
place airplane that was eventually
known as the Colt , but never went into
production . He died in 1965.
Serial number 131 Phantom, Doug
and Linda's airplane, was completed
and test flown in 1941. The original
owners rarely flew the airplane and
Doug writes that it traveled, " from one
garage and accident site to another." It
was returned to the factory in 1944
after suffering extensive damage. One
year later it returned to service, four
years after production with a little over
I I hours per year registered on the
tach. From 1947 to 1952, the airplane
went through three owners and a series
of minor accidents resulting in several
repairs. In 1952, a Mr. Hayduck
bought the Phantom and flew it for 58
hours before wrecking it and rebuild-
ing it again. His efforts to metalize the
wings were thwarted by the FAA as
the molasses speed of the bureaucratic
process worked in favor of historic
preservation.
Two other owners intervened from
1965 to 1982 and a great deal of val u-
able information was procured but lit-
tle work was done . Yet another owner
then trucked the airplane to Texas
where six years of metalwork, engine
overhauling and wing fabric work
began. In the course of these efforts ,
some historical artifacts were literally,
uncovered. Under the primer on the in-
side of the fuselage, several production
directions signed "D.L." were discov-
ered. Also, a 1930s wrench was found
inside a wing fairing. It had generated
di-electric corrosion of the metal skin
that needed to be repaired.
At the "90-percent-complete" stage,
Doug and Linda bought the project
when the owner became disillusioned
and discouraged. A friend of the pair
had spotted an ad in Trade-A-Plane.
They finished the detail and rigging
work and in May 1988, accidently per-
formed the first test flight while en-
gaged in a high-speed taxi test. The
pair flew the airplane to its current base
at Chandler, Arizona where re-rigging,
re-aligning and about 500 hours of ad-
ditional detail work were completed.
Repairs were also required on the en-
gine, electrical system and control ca-
bles. Doug flew the airplane to EAA
Oshkosh '88 for fellow Luscombe lov-
ers to admire and enjoy.
He says everything you read about
difficult ground handling is true, al-
though he moved the tailwheel from
the forward position on the fuselage
that was favored in later serial num-
bers, back to the rear of the tailcone
where it was on the prototype.
Nevertheless, he finds this the ultimate
Luscombe. True, the Phantom can be
classified as a failure, or more charita-
bly, a transitional design. But it repre-
sents a significant milestone in the
lineage of today's aluminum airplanes.
When the Phantom was on the drawing
boards, aluminum airplanes were at the
stage of composites today-advanced
curiosities that were just too radical to
be successful consumer products. It's
easy to look at the Phantom as a mile-
stone in aviation-but looking back is
always easier than looking forward.
Phantom 272Y flies as a tribute to Don
Bona fide "Luscombe lover" Doug Combs with his rare Phantom. Luscombe's ability to mold the future .
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
THE UPS AND DOWNS
OF A J-2
by Gene Chase
John Hartman's J-2 Taylor Cub
Everyone who was at EAA Oshkosh
'88 remembers the great storm that hit
on Thursday. Antique/Classic mem-
bers who were near the Red Bam recall
the Taylor Cub that was uprooted and
heavily damaged when it struck a tele-
phone pole. Only heroic action by sev-
eral volunteers and others saved the
Cub and other nearby airplanes from
further damage. In 1987, Gene Chase
interviewed John Hartman of Mack,
Colorado, rebuilder of the Cub. John
subsequently sold the airplane and it
was the new owner who suffered the
loss . In Gene' s 1987 photos , it' s in-
teresting to note the double tiedowns ,
a precaution that would have saved the
airplane on that fateful Thursday last
summer:
Q. (John, what can you tell me about
your airplane? Can you give me a little
of the background of it and when you
got it and things like that?)
A. Okay I got it probably six years
ago. I had a Vagabond, a PA 15 that
I traded for it and a 46 T Craft and a
22 NOVEMBER 1988
Volkswagen bus. The wind had blown
the Cub over on its back and so I had
to completely rebuild it.
Q. (Where did you get it ?)
A. It was in Oklahoma City, the young
fellow there was going to college and
he didn't tie it down very good out at
Cole's Hole where Chester Peak and
Harold Malloy live and the wind blew
it over. Of course, I've known the kid
for a long time and he'd been after my
Vagabond and I finally traded him.
Q. (Good)
A. And then I restored it over, oh, took
me about three years to restore it.
Q. (What fabric is on the airplane?)
A. It's Stits J.7 and it ' s all Stits pro-
cess. It's the poly fiber, poly brush,
poly spray and then the poly tone.
That's speed ray dope isn't it mostly?
Q. (Yes . What are the colors and are
they authentic?)
A. As near as I can tell they are. It ' s
got the three black stripes and yellow,
Cub yellow, Stits Cub yellow. The
only thing that isn't authentic on it is
the tail wheel and it had a skid and that
don't work very good on our blacktop.
It was on there when I got it.
Q. (Tell me about the instruments.)
A. Well, four instruments.
Q. (Are they original?)
A. They' re original, uh, the oil temper-
ature and oil pressure's new, rebuilt
but everything else is the Cub instru-
ments. As near as I know it's original
everything.
Q. (Good. What is the gas capacity?)
A. Nine gallons .
Q. (That ' s that little round tank isn ' t
it ? )
A. Little round tank, yes , bums three
an hour. Gives you three hours at about
58 mph. You don't go very far.
Q. (Well, how does it fly up at your
elevation? )
A. Well, it's a good one-place. Well ,
not really good but it's real fun to fly
early in the mornings and it performs
real good. One of the young fellows
had it up to 16,000 feet one day but he
got into thermals .
Q. (Saved some gas, didn ' t he?)
A. Yes he did. Most generally about
7,500 is about all we can get on a sum-
mer day.
Q. (What's the elevation of your air-
port ?)
Multiple tiedowns in this 1987 photo are an ironic detail.
A. It's 5,000 feet, Mack Mesa Airport,
it's just 20 miles west of Grand Junc-
tion. It's just a dirt strip 2,600 feet long
with a bunch of antiques there . We've
got about 30 antiques on the field .
People just come out and work on their
airplanes. I quit farming in 1980 and I
kept that 80 acres where the landing
field was. That ' s all I've got now. Just
kept the landing field and built a house
right there. So I live right on the field.
Q. (Where is that from Grand Junc-
tion ? )
A. It's 20 miles west toward Utah, just
off 1-70.
Q. (How many hours have you flown
the Cub?)
A. I've been putting on about 25 , 30
hours for the last two years .
Q. (Have you had any problems with
the Continental?)
A. No, not a bit.
Q. (Good. What fuel do you burn?)
A. Car gas .
Q. (Good, J do to. What prop is on it,
John?)
A. 69128 Flotorp.
Q. (Okay .)
A. It could have about a 28 pitch it
should have about two more because
it'll red line even climbing out, it'll
Q. (J' II bet you need that high rpm
though to climb with it, don't you? To
get it up there ?)
A. Oh yes , yes. The lowest pass that
we can get out of there is 9,000 feet
so we have to go at least 10 to get out
of the valley there.
Q. (That's a far piece for a 40 horse
airplane .)
A. Yes it is.
Q. (Do you use Marvel Mystery Oil ?)
A. In the oil and in the gas and I squirt
it on the valve stems before each flight.
Q. (Good for you. Did this airplane
originally come with that size wheel
and tire?)
A. No, it came with airwheels and I
couldn't get any so I put an adapter on
so I use 8.00 X 4s now. I hunted
everywhere for those airwheel tires.
Q. (They're hard to find.)
A. Oh, I would have loved to found a
pair. But very few people know that,
know that and can tell. Course it
doesn't have any brakes.
Q. (Have you flown it without the tail-
wheel? Do you have any grass any
place you canfly it with just the skid?)
A . No. Well our runway's gravel and
no, I haven't. I've got the little shoe
that fit on the spring but I never have
tried it.
Q. (How did you duplicate the artwork
on the fin?)
A. I took a picture of the data plate and
had it enlarged 30 times and then took
a razor blade and cut it out and glued
it on and marked it with a pencil and
then hand painted it freehand.
Q. (You did that yourself?)
A. Well, the wife, I got her to do the
painting.
Q. (Oh good, goodfor her. Yes it looks
real good. How did you determine the
three black stripes and locate them and
everything? )
run 2,700 climbing out at our altitude . Secure again ... but after the damage had been done.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
---------------------------- -----
The Cub suffered heavy aileron and rear spar damage of the left wing.
A. Well, I got pictures of it when it
was fairly a new airplane and that's
what I went by. I've got all the records
since it was brand new. I don't know
if it's really authentic but it's from a
long time back.
Q. (It sure looks authentic. Did you
have any problems getting it licensed?)
A. No. Not a bit. The airworthiness
certificate was still good and my son-
in-law is an AI.
Q. (Oh, that helps.)
A. And so I had to twist his arm and
let him fly it a little.
Q. (Sure.)
A. But he licenses it for me each year.
Q. (Well good. What's your flying
background, fohn ?)
A. Well, I joined the Aviation Cadets
in 1943 but I got washed out before I
got my wings. I was taking basic at
Johnson 's Flying Service in Missoula,
Montana. They washed out 63,000 one
day and sent us all to the infantry. But
I told them when they did that I was
still going to have my license some day
and then when I got home I didn't get
my license until ' 58. 'Cause I bought
a farm when I got home and I went to
farming but I got my private in '58 and
my commercial in '60 and I was spray-
ing just a little bit and then I went to
hauling crew to the gas wells in my
spare time.
Q. (What in?)
A. In a 206, turbo 206, but I found out
that wasn' t fun. I raised alfalfa seed
and we had to spray it for onion thrip
and to get it to set seed. I just did my
own.
'2. (What kind of plane did you use for
that? )
A. J-3 .
Q. (Goodfor you. What engine in it?)
A. It had a 65 converted to a 75 .
Q. (What load could you carry at that
elevation? )
A. It seemed like about 25 gallons but
we only put on two gallons to the acre
so you covered quite a few acres, spray
The right main wheel was cracked. early in the morning or late at night.
24 NOVEMBER 1988
1987 photo of the 40-hp Continental.
Q. (Tell me about some of the
airplanes you've built, John.)
A. Well I've built a Woody Pusher, a
Smith Miniplane, and I've restored
four T Crafts, a Vagabond, a Clipper,
a Tripacer, how many others?
Q. (How' d you have time to farm ?)
A. This is in the winter. I restore
airplanes in the winter like the Woody
Pusher took me two winters to build
and the Smith Miniplane took three
winters. And of course, I could rebuild
a T Craft each winter after I got them
others rebu i I t.
Q. (John, how much flying do you do
these days ?)
A. At 7:30 every morning I go. I kind
of got a route down there in the valley
and I take off and it takes about 20
minutes and I fly every morning. Last
year I missed about six mornings that
I never went on account of weather or
if I wasn't at home. But that's just one
of them things that if I didn't do it the
neighbors would think I was sick or
something.
Q. (What all do you look at during that
flight?)
A. Seems like everday I see something
else to look at. I go over , well I kind
of got a route, I go over different
people's houses, wave at them. One
morning I went about an hour early
NC 16769 may fly again after an auction sale by AVEMCO. It was totalled in the storm.
and the Mack Postmistress , she was
still in bed, and she thought "Oh my
God, I'm late for work." But I was an
hour early because I had to go some-
place. Some of the guys say that they
can set their watch by me.
Q. (Well that's interesting. Do you
ever stop and give them a ride?)
A. Oh, yes, I've given them all rides .
I tell them that I go by myself to meet
me there at seven and all of them that
I go over they've come out and went
one day or another with me.
Q. (They meet you at your strip.)
A. Up at my strip and J then I take
them on the route.
Q. (Is your strip marked on the section-
als? )
A. Yes, it's Mack Mesa Airport. It's
20 miles west of Grand Junction, in
fact , we're right on the Grand Junction
ILS . Of course they're 6,000 feet
above us when they go over. We're in
the procedure tum.
Q. (I see.)
A. We were going to try to get a black
top but our local taxes would cost us
too much so we just graveled it and it's
packed real tight, just like cement so
we don't ding any props. It's an all
weather strip.
Q. (Do you ever fly on skis in the
winter?)
A. Never have.
Q. (Could you if you wanted to ?)
A. Well, we don't have much snow
down in the valley. Last year we had
four inches once and it lasted two days .
One winter we had two foot and it
lasted all winter but that was kind of
unusual. We have lots of snow in the
mountains around us but none down
in the valley. We call this the banana
belt of Colorado, it's such nice weath-
er.
Q. (You said that's what makes it so
nice to live there.)
A. Yes, of course I was born and raised
there. I've been all over the United
States but I wouldn't trade that valley
for anyplace. Unless it was Wisconsin
in the summer.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
WELCOME NEWMEMBERS
The following is a partial listing of new members who have joined the EAA Antique/Classic Division (through September 18,
1988). We are honored to welcome them into the organization whose members' common interest is vintage aircraft. Succeeding
issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE will contain additional listings of new members.
Albright, Robert
Streetsboro, Ohio
Allan, Jan
Lidingo, Sweden
Allenspach, Heinz
Planken, Lichtenstein
Ament, Frank
Sandwich, Illinois
Anderson, Michael
Cedar Hill , Texas
Armbrust, Douglas
Greensburg, Pennsylvania
Babaganian, Arthur
Michigan City, Indiana
Bailey, Robert
Shoreview, Minnesota
Baird, Henry
Talbott, Tennessee
Baker, James
Colorado Springs, Colorado
Ballantyne, John
Nashville, Illinois
Beaulieu, Ronald
Fall River, Massachusetts
Begley, Paul
Victoria, Australia
Bennett,John
Arcata, California
Binns, John
Walled Lake, Michigan
Blackner, John
Winnipeg, Manitoba
Bodin, Clifford
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Bodinar, John
Victoria, Austral ia
Boettcher, James
Enon. Ohio
Boyce, Gerald Lynn
Camden. South Carolina
Brandt, Roger
Sioux Falls, South Dakota
Breand, Andre
Thiais, France
Brooks, Elger
Manton, Michigan
Brusilow, Michael
Albany, New York
Burnidge, Scott
Elgin, Illinois
Butler, Manley Jr.
California City, California
Calvert, Ian
Alexandria, Virginia
Calvo, Tony
Anchorage, Alaska
Capps,Ron
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
Carothers, Rhonda
Freemont, California
Carr, Donald
Saratoga, California
Carvlho, Jose
Porto Alegre, Brazil
Case, James
Indian River, Michigan
Cheslack, Patricia
Aurora, Colorado
Cisre Reynes, Miguel
Mallorea, Spain
Clason, Roy
Zephyr Cove, Nevada
Coates, Samuel
Fond du Lac, Wisconsin
Cochrane, James
Crystal Lake, Illinois
Coddington, Ken
Thousand Oaks, California
Combs, P. Douglas
Incline Village. Nevada
Confer, Ronald
Morrison, Colorado
Conwell, William
Burlingame, California
Cooley, Robert
Michigan City, Indiana
Cornwell, Paul
Littleton, Colorado
Craig, Greer
EI Paso, Texas
Cudd, David
Charlotte, North Carolina
Davideit, Dennis
Plymouth, Minnesota
DeVreis, Robert
Jamaica, New York
DeYoung, Roger
Tucson, Arizona
Durr, Robert
Escondido, California
Egbert, Frank
Los Altos, California
Ehrenstrom, Ingemar
Osterskar, Sweden
Elbel, George
Cincinnati , Ohio
Elsing, Myles
Corona Del Mar, California
Elton, Ronald
Platte City, Missouri
Esch, Martha
Fairview Park, Ohio
Farinha, Christopher
Auburn, California
Farmer, Robert
APO New York
Fehling, Richard
Columbia City, Indiana
Fein, Edythe Gordon
Cherry Hill , New Jersey
Finan, James
Indialantic, Florida
Forrester, James
Carraopolis, Pennsylvania
Francis, Dan
Wappingers Falls, New York
French, F. Lynn
Crawford, Colorado
Frysinger, Earl
Portland, Oregon
Galway, David
Port Credit, Ontario
Gambrell, Robert
Columbia, South Carolina
Goranson, Ronald
Bartlett, Illinois
Green, Francis III
Frankfort, New York
Gygax, Larry
Waukesha, Wisconsin
Hansen, Harry
Hamilton, Texas
Haskell, Curt
Davison, Michigan
Hatten, Tom
Spokane, Washington
Hayes, Larry
Thousand Oaks, California
Hayes, Robert
Mogadore, Ohio
Headley, Thomas
Madison, Alabama
Hollister, Ashley
New York, New York
Honigford, Eugene
Delphos, Ohio
Hooper, Clint
Wichitaw Falls, Texas
Hower, Linn
Idaho Falls, Idaho
Opdycke, Leonard
Poughkeepsie, New York.
26 NOVEMBER 1988
WITNESSTOTHEEXECUTION
The Odyssey of Amelia Earhart
Amelia Earhart, founder and first
President of the Ninety-Nines and
aviator of worldwide reputation, was
lost at sea in 1937 on the last leg of a
sensational round-the-world flight.
Her mysterious disappearance has
haunted historians ever since.
Now, author Ie. "Buddy" Brennan
reveals his startling conclusions on
what really happened to Amelia
Earhart following her disappearance
somewhere in the Pacific.
IC."Buddy"Brennan'spainstakinglyresearchedbook- andthe
dynamichigh-qualityvideotapethatincludeseyewitnesses! - are
nowavailablefromtheEAAAudioVisualCommunicationsGroup.
VideoTape$19.95(pleasespecifyVHS, Betaor8mm)
Hardcoverbookonly$19.95 SoftcoverBook$11.95
BookPackincludingboth theVideoTapeandSoftcoverBook$34.00
FOR IMMEDIATE ORDERS CALL
1-800-843-3612
(WisconsinResidentsCall1-800-236-4800)
Theauthorholdsanartifact
recoveredathisdigsiteon
theislandofSaipan.Could
itbetheblindfoldwornby
AmeliaEarhartjustpriorto
herexecution?
"Buddybringsthewholeadven-
tureintoyourhomeasifyou were
personallydiscussingthetrip.The
storyringssotrue, you havetheitch
togowithhimonhisnextjourney
toSaipaninthehopeofbeing
therewhenthemysteryis brought
toits ultimateconclusion:'
Hazel H.Jones
PastInternationalPresident,
The Ninety-Nines
Don'tmissthisopportunitytoownWITNESSTO THE EXECUTION,
byIe."Buddy"Brennan
VideoTape$19.95(pleasespecifyVHS, Betaor8mm)
Hardcoverbookonly$19.95 SoftcoverBook$11.95
BookPackincludingboth theVideoTapeandSoftcoverBook$34.00
FOR IMMEDIATE ORDERS CALL
EMAudioNideo
1-800-843-3612 Attn:MOV DEPT,Wittman Airfield
Oshkosh,WI 54903-3065
(WisconsinResidentsCall1-800-236-4800)
MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION
EAA
Membership in the Experimental
Aircraft Association, Inc. is $30.00
for one year, including 12 issues of
Sport Aviation. Junior Membership
(under 19 years ofage) is available
at$18.00 annually. Family Member-
ship is available for an additional
$10.00annually.
ANTIQUE/CLASSICS
EAA Member - $18.00. Includes
one year membership in EAA An-
tique-Classic Division, 12 monthly
issues ofThe VintageAirplaneand
membership card. Applicant must
be acurrentEAA memberandmust
giveEAAmembershipnumber.
Non-EAA Member - $28.00. In-
cludes one year membership in the
EAA Antique-Classic Division, 12
monthly issues of The Vintage Air-
plane, one year membership in the
EAA and separate membership
cards.SportAviationnotincluded.
lAC
Membership in the International
Aerobatic Club, Inc. is $25.00 an-
nually which includes 12 issues of
SportAerobatics. AlllACmembers
are required to be membersofEAA.
WARBIRDS
Membership in the Warbirds of
America, Inc. is $25.00 per year,
which includes a subscription to
Warblrds. Warbird members are
requiredtobemembersofEAA.
EAAEXPERIMENTER
EAA membershipandEAAEXPERI-
MENTER magazine is available for
$28.00peryear(SportAviationnot
included). Current EAA members
may receive EAA EXPERIMENTER
for$18.00peryear.
FOREIGN
MEMBERSHIPS
Please submit your remittance with
a check ordraft drawn on a United
States bank payable in United
Statesdollars.
Make checks payable to EAA orthe
division in which membership is
desired. Address all letters to EAA
or the particular division at the fol-
lowingaddress:
WITTMANAIRFIELD
OSHKOSH, WI54903-3086
PHONE(414) 426-4800
OFFICEHOURS:
8:15-5:00MON.-FRI.
Leo Opdycke, Editor Kenn Rust, Editor
W.W.1 AERO (19001919), and SKYWAYS(19201940):
our twoJournals,which contain:
information on current projects historical research
newsof museumsand airshow5 workshop notes
techni cal drawings,data information on paint and color
photographs aeroplanes, engines,parts for sale
scalemodelling material PLUS: your wants and disposals
newsofcurrent publicationsof allkinds PLUS more. .
Samplecopies $4 each.
Publishedby WORLD WAR 1 INC.
15Crescenl Koad. POllqllkccpsi e. NY 12601. USA (91414733679
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet...
25e per word,20 word minimum.Sendyourad to
The VintageTrader,Wittman Ai rti eld
Oshkosh,WI 54903-2591.
AIRCRAFT:
Chester's GOON, GEE BEE' s, " BULLDOG,"
MONOCOUPE"110",Culver" Cadet ",etc.Plans
catalog $3.00, REFUNDABLE: Vern Clements, AI
C 5989, 308 Palo Alto Drive, Caldwell , 10 82605.
(112)
Complete J-3 tail group - covered with Stits
Poly-Fiberthrough silver- professionalquality-
also PA-18 rudder and fin - must sell. Call 5071
437-3534. (11-1)
1931 Heath Parasol - Model V, with Heath B-4
engine.SpareHeath-Hendersonengine.Restored,
readyfor assembly. Also havevery nice Continen-
tal A404, and complete set of Cub J3 service
letters. Makeoffers. 312/742-2041, Illinois. (11-1)
PLANS:
POBERPIXIE- VWpoweredparasol- unlimited
in lowcost pleasure flying. Big, roomy cockpit for
the over six foot pilot. VW power insures hard to
beat 3'12 gph at cruise setting. 15 large instruction
sheets. Plans- $60.00. InfoPack- $5.00. Send
check or money order to: ACRO SPORT, INC.,
Box462,HalesCorners,WI 53130.414/5292609.
ACRO SPORT- Single place biplane capableof
unlimited aerobatics. 23 sheets of clear, easy to
follow plans includes nearly 100 isometrical draw-
ings, photos and exploded views. Complete parts
and materials list. Full size wing drawings. Plans
plus 139 page Builder's Manual - $60.00. Info
Pack- $5.00. SuperAcro SportWing Drawing-
$15.00. The Technique of Aircraft Building -
$10.00 plus $2.00 postage. Send check ormoney
order to: ACRO SPORT, INC., Box 462, Hales
Corners,WI 53130. 414/5292609.
ENGINES&ACCESSORIES:
Bendi x DR4N-2021 Dual magneto - New with
Dura-Blue harnesses. Save weight and a drive.
Makeoffer (no collect). 214/248-4104. (11-2)
MISCELLANEOUS:
HaveWe GotAPartforYou!20yearsaccumula-
tion of parts for all types of aircraft - antiques.
classics,homebuilts,warbirds. Everythingfromthe
spinner tothe tail wheel. Air SalvageofArkansas,
Rt. 1, Box8020, Mena, AR 71953,phone501/394
1022or501/394-2342. (3-2/579111)
CUSTOM EMBROIDERED PATCHES. Made to
suit your design, any size, shape, colors. Five
patch minimum. Free random sample and
brochure. Hein Specialties, 4202P North Drake,
Chicago, IL 606181113. (c2/89)
AN OPEN COCKPIT VOX INTERCOM THAT
WORKS! - A two-squelch electronic system
guaranteed to eliminate open mics and STILL be
voice activatedI Interfaces with handheld com
radios. Record and selfmuting music inputs. ATC
override. All kits includeassembledPC board. Up
to 50 hrs. with 9VDC battery or power with 8 .
32VDC. FIVE YEAR WARRANTY. Two place kit
$75.00.AAMWELLTECHNOLOGY,2744E. Glen-
rosa, Phoenix, AZ 85016, 602/9558857evenings.
(1189/3)
1910-1950 Aviation items for sal e - helmets,
goggles.instruments,manuals.everythingoriginal
and old. 44page catalog available, $5.00. Air
mailed. Jon Aldrich, POB-706, Airport,Groveland,
CA95321. (189/5)
TOOLS:
Tool s, hand & powerforallaircraftwork.Rivet
ers - Drills Fasteners - Accessories - Tool Kits.
Everything for the kit builder - 96-page catalog
available. $2.00 (refundablewith first order). U. S.
Industrial Tool & Supply Company. 15159 Cleat
Street, Plymouth, MI 48170. Call tollfree 1800
5214800. (4/896)
28 NOVEMBER 1988
Flyhighwitha
qualityClassicinterior
Completeinteriorassembliesfordo-it-yourselfinstallation.
Customqualityateconomicalprices.
Cushionupholsterysets
Wallpanelsets
Headliners
Carpetsets
Baggagecompartmentsets
Firewallcovers
Seatslings
Recoverenvelopesanddopes
Freecatalogofcompleteproductline.
Fabric Selection Guide showing actual sample colors and
stylesofmaterials:$3.00.
Qi"exI;RODUCTS,INC.
259LowerMorrisvilleRd.,Dept.VA
Fallsington,PA19054 (215) 295-4115
STITSPOLY-FIBER
COVERINGMATERIALS
THE CHOICEOFTHE GRAND CHAMPION WINNERS
HERE'SWHY! *ProvenDurabilityon ThousandsofAircraft
*FAA-STC ForOver630AircraftModels *SuperiorQualityCoallngs
DevelopedandManufacturedUnderanFAA-PMA especiallyfor
PolyesterFabric onAircraft, NotModifiedAutomollveFinishes, Water
BorneHousePaint, orTintedandRe/abledCellulo.eDope *WillNot
SupportCombusllon *LightestCoveringApprovedUnderFAA-STC
andPMA *MoatEconomicalCoveringMaterials Considering Years
ofTroubleFreeService *NoFalseorMisleadingAdvertisingClaims
- VIDEOTAPEAVAILABLE
FABRIC COVERING WITH RAYSTiTS Sponsoredby EAA
Aviation Foundation. Betore MakingExpensiveMistakes,See. ThisTape
andLearnHowto DoItRighttheFirstTime. $49.95. AlsoDirecttrom
EAA(1-800-843-3612), and from Stlts Distributors.

WRITE OR PHONEFOR FREE *SampleatHighStrength,Very
Smooth1.7 oz Patented PolyesterFabric Developed Especially for
Aircraft Covering *Manual #1 with Detailed InstructionsforFabric
CoveringandPaintingAircraft forCorrosion Control *LatestCatalog
and DistributorList.
STITSPOLY-FIBER
AIRCRAFTCOATINGS
P.O. Box3084-V, Riverside, CA92519
Phone(714) 684-4280
RE-LNEIT!

\

The fabulous times ofTurner,Doolittle, Wedell
and Wittman recreated as neverbeforein this
600-page two-volume series.Printedon high grade
paperwith sharp, clear photoreproduction.Official
race results 1927through 1939- morethan 1,000
photos- 3-viewdrawings- scoresofarticlesabout
peopleandplanesthatrecapturetheglory,thedrama,
the excitementofairracing duringthe golden years.
Vol. I (no. 21-14452) and Vol. II (no.21-14451)
are sold for $14.95 each, with postage charges of
$2.40for one volume and $3.65 for twovolumes.
Sendyourcheck ormoneyorderto: EAAAviation
Foundation,Attn: Dept. MO, Wittman Airfield,
Oshkosh,WI 54903-3086,414/426-4800. Outside
Wisconsin,phone 1-800-843-3612.
AVIATION HISTORY AS IT HAPPENED!
CALL TOLL FREE: 18008433612
AVAILABLE ATEAA OSHKOSH '88 or SHIPPED AFTER AUG. 7, 1988
'plus $3 shipping/handling (WI residents add 5% sales tax)
THE BUILDING OF
THE
by George A. Hardie, Jr
This high-wing cabin monoplane
bore the name of an early airplane de-
signer. The photo is from the collection
fo the late Burton Kemp of Chicago,
an early EAA member. The date and
location are unknown . Answers will be
published in the February, 1989 issue
of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE.
Deadline for that issue is December 10,
1988.
The Mystery Plane for August is a
Thomas seaplane . There seems to be a
question as to which model seaplane it
is. Quoting form the aritcle on the
Thomas Aeroplane Company in the
1919 Aircraft Yearbook:
'Thomas engines began now to be
used regularly by the Thomas Aerop-
lane Company in its flying craft. Two
seaplanes were constructed for the
naval department in 1915 with 140-hp
power plane , and justified the intro-
duction of the new engines by attaining
a speed of 82 mph and mounting to
2,700 feet in 10 minutes, with passen-
ger, pilot , and fuel for four hours.
Soon after their completion, model 05
was built for the Signal Corps. Its 135-
hp engine drove it at a speed of 86 mph
and permitted a climb of 3,600 feet in
10 minutes with a full load."
A photo of the 05, a landplane, re-
sembles the seaplane shown in the
Mystery photo. Quoting again from the
Yearbook article:
"The government was now reo[-
ganizing its small flying sections, and
came to the Thomas Aeroplane Com-
pany for machines . In August , 1916 a
two-seater training hydro-airplane was
ready . . . "
Only one answer was received.
Charley Hayes of Park Forest , Illinoi s
correctly identified the aircraft.
Thomas Seaplane
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31