VOL. 33 , NO.

2005

CONTENTS

C OV ERS

Straight and Level

FRONT COVER: Thinking about buying or restoring a light

VAA News

by a the son of C. G. Taylor himself, Bob Taylor, or you can

EAA AirVenture 2005 VAA Aircraft Awards

bui lding or restoring by Budd Davisson in this issue of

Reminiscing with Big Nick

Koepn ick . Shot with a Canon EOS 1n on Fuji Velvia film.

Th e Pylon Club-Part II

EAA photo plane flown by Bruce Moore .

plane? You can restore a Taylorcraft like this beauty rebuilt

choose to buy one already restored. See the article on
Vintage Airplane. EAA photo by chief photographer Jim

by Nick Rezich
BACK COVER: One of the high lights of this year's EAA Art

10

16

The First Practical Airplane

Competition was the submission of this painting by Hous

Part II: The season of success

by H.G. Frautschy

t ied " Era of Enchantment," captures the look and feel of a

Restoring Versus Buying: The Realities

ton, Texas, resident Jonathan Frank. The oil painting, ti

sandy tropical beach being overflown by one of Pan Ameri
can 's oceanic clipper ships du ring the late 1930s.

Being objective about your restoration

by Budd Davisson
20

The Forgotten Performers

Part II: NC251M is resurrected
by Vic Pike

25

Mystery Plane
by H.G. Fra utschy

26

Pass it to Buck
Prop'er Behavior
by Buck Hilbert

28

Th e Vintage Instructor
Try it . . . you'll like it!
by Doug Stewart

31

Calendar

31

Classified Ads

STAF F

Publisher
Editor-in-Chief
Executive Di rector/Editor
Adm inis trative Assistant
Managing Editor
News Editor
Photography
Production Manager
Classified Ad Manager
Copy Edi tor
Director of Advertising

Tom Poberezny
Scott Spangler
H.G. Frautschy
jennifer Lehl
Kath leen Witman
Ric Reynolds
jim Koepnick
Bonnie Bartel
julie Russo
Isabelle Wiske
Colleen Walsh
Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives:

No rtheast: Allen Murray
Phone 609265 1666, FAX 609265 166 1email: allemllllrray@milldsprillg.com
Southeast: Chester Baumgartner
Phone 7275730586, FAX 7275560 177 email; cballmlll @milldsprills.com
Central: Todd Reese
Phone 8004449932, FAX 81674 16458 e mail: to<ld@Spc-mag.com
Mountain " Pacific Keith Knowlton" Associates
Phone 770-5 162743, e mail: kkllowltoll@eaa.org

GEOFF ROBISON
PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

Oshkosh 2005

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 200S is

now in the record books. By all mea
sures, this year's premier event has
clearly been labeled a huge success.
You have oftentimes heard me extol
ling the accomplishments of our vol
unteers and staff, and although I am
always amazed at their efforts, I have
failed in the past to recognize another
critically important group of members.
Who am I referring to? Why the many
members who have chosen to bring
their beautifully restored vintage fly
ing machines to this event.
A lot of folks just take this Hercu
lean effort for granted. One would an
ticipate that with the increasing cost
of flying, maintaining, and insuring
these treasures, who could possibly
expect so many of you to make the
trip to Oshkosh and tie down your
aircraft in a field, exposed to all the el
ements for days on end? What would
it be like at EAA AirVenture if this
trend were somehow reversed? I don't
like thinking about it. Your efforts are
not only recognized, but are sincerely
appreciated as well.
You folks are really the icing on the
cake when it comes to providing a
wonderful display of our aircraft types
at our annual event. It should also be
noted here that the quality of vintage
restorations continues to amaze us all.
I hope that this phenomenon contin
ues long into the future so that our
grandchildren and their children can
also experience and enjoy this excep
tional display of Vintage aircraft at
Oshkosh for many years to come.
There were so many wonderful at
tractions and events and so many
breathtaking moments to observe
this year. Of particular note, of course,
were the arrivals of White Knight and

SpaceshipOne, followed by Global

Flyer. The crowds were stretched for
what had to be at least a mile long,
and the depth of the crowd was truly
reminiscent of the early arrivals of
the Concorde SST in years past. There
were many photo ops, in particular,
when the F-4 and the F-16 flanked by
two P-Sl Mustangs flew by repeatedly,
I actually forgot to take a picture. I was
absolutely mesmerized by the view
of these unique aircraft in tight for
mation together. The reaction of the
crowd was also unique. It was loud
and emotional. What a response!
There were many other success sto
ries at AirVenture. However, I really
have to single out and mention one
of Vintage's newest programs that be
gan at AirVenture 200S. One of our
own Vintage board members had
this crazy idea of demonstrating the
proper techniques of propping an air
craft. This concept was borne out of a
conversation between Dale Gustafson
and Dave Clark. With the assistance
of Dave Clark (also a VAA board mem
ber), and Gene Chase (director emer
itus), they arranged for EAA's Cuby
(the black one, built by EAA Founder
Paul Poberezny) to be parked in the
front yard of our Red Bam Headquar
ters, and twice daily a seminar was
held that assisted our many members
in learning the fine art of safely prop
ping a Vintage airplane.
The depth of the crowd observ
ing these lessons was remarkable. We
consistently averaged SO-60 attend
ees per session. Special thanks to Jerry
Brown for assisting us by sharing his
expertise in this effort as well. Also,
many thanks go to Norma Joyce of
AVA Insurance Agency for sponsor
ing this very worthwhile effort.

Each year at AirVenture, there are

two very special awards presented to
our valued volunteers who provide
untold hours of dedicated service to
the Vintage Aircraft Association. This
very special recognition began under
the leadership of Art Morgan. Art rec
ognized early on that each year there
were many standout individuals who
were deserving of special recognition.
As a result, Art started the "Volunteer
of the Year" awards program.
When Art passed away, this pro
gram naturally became known as
"The Art Morgan Volunteer of the
Year Memorial Award ." Each year at
AirVenture, during the Vintage Air
craft Association Membership meet
ing, we announce the current year's
winners. I am pleased to announce
that the "Vintage Flightline Volunteer
of the Year" for 2005 is a fine gentle
man from Sonoma, California, by the
name of John Watts. John is the gen
tleman who is having way too much
fun stopping traffic with his stop sign
at the Classic Taxiway crossing in the
Vintage area at each year's event.
The second award is known as the
"Vintage Behind the Scenes Volunteer
of the Year," and this year's reCipient
is Joanne Fox, from Fort Wayne, In
diana. Joanne is known as one of our
"secret weapons." She can accomplish
more logistical tasks in one hour than
most of us can do in a full day. Con
gratulations to each of you. You're ef
forts are not only greatly appreCiated,
but you are a hoot to work with.
Let's all pull in the same direction
for the good of aviation. Remember,
we are better together. Join us and
have it all.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

EAA Continues Efforts on

Sport Pilot 'Double Standard'
At AirVenture, EAA and t he FAA
met to address an unforeseen "dou
ble standard" in th e sport pi lo t
rule. Pilots who ho ld a sport pilot
certificate and a valid U.S. driver's
license are allowed to exercise sport
pilot privileges wi t hout an FAA
medical certificate. But an impor
tant exception, added late in th e
rule-making process in response
to FAA concerns about safety, says
that individuals certificated as pri
vate pilots or higher cannot fly as
sport pilots:
If they were not issued a med i
cal certificate at the time of th eir
most recent application,
If their most recently jssued
FAA medical certificate was revoked
or suspended, or
If their most recent authoriza
tion for a special issuance medica l
certificate was withdrawn.
The double standard occurs be
cause a pilot who applied fo r a
medical but didn't receive it, or
who had a medical but lost it be
cause of medical condition, cannot
fly as a sport pilot. Meanwh ile, an
individual with an identical med i
cal condition who never applied for
a medical or never had a med ica l
revoked can fly as a sport pilot with
a driver's license.
The meeting was positive and
drew out a coopera t ive excha n ge
of ideas, with several possible solu
tions offered and con sidered. Both
groups pledged to share the ideas
with their respective headquarters
and to continue the dialogue.

EAA Membership
Sweepstakes Winners
John and Kim Sery, Minneapolis,
Minnesota, are the lucky win n ers
of a newly refurbished, better-than
new Piper Cherokee 140 in the an
nual EAA Membership Sweepstakes.
The drawing took place at the end
2

SEPTEMBER 2005

EAA AirVenture 2005

Wow. What else can we say? Except for a true deluge on Monday evening, the
weather was perfect, the attendance up, and the aircraft were, well, amazing.
Greg Herrick and Cody Welch managed to corral seven tri-motored airplanes, five
of which were displayed in the VAA area, with six flying at one time during the af
ternoon showcase. It was quite a sound! In addition to the tri-motors, we'll have
plenty to report on in the October issue of Vintage Airplane. Stay tuned!

of the air sh ow o n Sunday, July 31,

at EAA AirVenture.
O th er sweepst a kes w inne rs in
cl ude:
Harley XL 1200C Sportster: An
drew Roberts, Roa noke, Virginia
Joh n Deere lawn tractor: Go r
do n and Sh ei la Pa rk e r, Se quim ,
Washington
BOSE Aviation Headset X: Kurt
Rathgaber, Mish icot, Wiscon sin
Also d raw n at th e end of EAA
AirVenture on Sund ay, Cindy Mc
Neight of Sm yrn a, Georgia, is the
lucky wi nn er of eith er a J ag u a r
XK8 convertible or a Ran ge Rover
Sport after winning the annual EAA
Young Eagles Raffl e.

Charlie Nelson, founder and pres

ident of the Swift Museum Founda
tion Inc. and the Swift Association.
Both m en will be inducted dur
in g th e Hall of Fa m e ceremo ni es
h eld during th e Hall of Fam e din
n er th e eve nin g o f Octob e r 2 1,
2005 . We' ll have m o re on th ese
two m o st-deserving men in future
issues of Vintage Airplane.
A limited amount of tickets are
avail able to the gen eral public for
this event, which is h eld in the Ea
gle Hangar of EAA's AirVenture Mu
seum . Co ntact th e EA A Deve lo p
m ent Office , 800-236-1025 , fo r in
fo rm ati o n concerning ticket sa les
and availability.

2005 VAA Hall of Fame

Vintage Airplane Cover Wrap

A number of yo u h ave co n
tact ed u s regardin g the reinstate
m ent of th e us e of cover wra p on
your magazine, and we appreciate
your enthusiastic fee dback.
We do need to clarify one item.
A few ha ve n o ti ce d the print
in g o n the n ew co v e r wr a p r e

The VAA boa rd of djrecto rs and

th e VAA Ha ll of Fa me co mmittee
are pleased to a nn o un ce that this
year's inductees fo r the VAA Hall of
Fame are as follows:
Dick Knutson of Lodi , Wiscon
sin, noted res to rer an d ex pert o n
Piper aircraft restorations.

lated to renewing your member

ship. This appeal to renew should
not be confused with the "Last Is
sue" cover wrap some may have
seen if their renewal date hap
pens to coincide with the date of
the magazine being mailed. The
"Last Issue" cover wrap is writ
ten in bolder type-don't worry, it
would be difficult to misinterpret
its meaning should it show up in
your mailbox!
We appreciate each of you who
renew on time or early. Over two
thirds of you whose renewal date
is nearing help us by renewing on
the first or second mailing. That
level of response helps keep our
costs down each year. Thanks!

at reasonable prices back in the

hands of the aviation community.
I would also like to invite any
of you who are aviation book col
lectors to think to the future and
make arrangements for your li
braries. Please consider the EAA li
brary as a destination for your col
lection, and make provisions to
ensure that happens. The EAA li
brary is your library and preserves
the history of aviation for you
and for future generations. You
can contact the library by call
ing 920-426-4848 for more infor
mation about donating a book or
your collection.
Thank you.-Susan Lurvey, EAA
Library / Archives Manager

VAA Calendar

EAA Museum Events

Don't forget, the 2006 VAA Cal

endar, as published by Turner Pub
lishing, is available to you by ad
vance order only. Don't miss out
on this beautiful 17-by-II-inch
wall calendar featuring the pho
tography of EAA's chief photogra
pher, Jim Koepnick. The Free Skies
Forever 2006 VAA Calendar can be
ordered only through Turner Pub
lishing and will highlight the air
craft of yesteryear, along with our
special tribute to VAA's outstand
ing volunteers. Be sure to check
out the advertisement on page 24,
and get your order placed today.
Each calendar costs only $15.95
(p lus $3.95 S&H) and can be or
dered by calling Turner at 800
788-3350.
The calendars need to be or
dered no later than September 30,
2005, for shipment in November,
well in advance of Christmas. Or
der one or, better yet, two (one for
a gift!) today!

The EAA AirVenture Museum has

plenty to offer the vintage airplane
enthUSiast, and this fall is no excep
tion. A trio of events certain to ap
peal to fans of old airplanes are on
tap. They are the following:

EAA Library Book and

Periodical Donations
The EAA library is in need of
book donations. Donations are the
primary way the library increases
its holdings. In addition, we use the
duplicates for the annual AirVen
ture book sale. The sale is very pop
ular and puts good aviation books

Vintage Biplane Fantasy Camp

ELECTRICAL

CONDUIT

ASSEMBLIES

MIL SPEC and RFI SHIELDING

CONDUIT ASSEMBLIES custom made
per your specifications
Original equipment style Braided
Conduits in Aluminum. Brass or
Stainless Steel
We carry a complete line of AN - MS
Electrical Fittings, Backshell Adapters
and Specialty Fittings
We also have full machine shop
capabilities for any custom
applications you may require.
Rebuild your Warbird back to
Original!

AIR/FLEX INDUSTRIES
2538 SUPPLY STREET. POMONA. CA 91767

Tel. 909-392-8474

AI RFLEXIN DUSTRI ES .CO M

Se~ember23~5,2005

The new EAA Biplane Fantasy

Flight Camp includes two nights
in the EAA Air Academy Lodge, six
meals-Friday supper through Sun
day lunch; EAA tours, including the
VIP tour of the AjrVenture Museum,
the convention site, collection stor
age, Pioneer Airport, Kermit Weeks
Hangar, and EAA administrative
and support facilities; three biplane
flights from Pioneer Airport; flight
simulation-flying a J-3 from Witt
man and Pioneer fields; and vari
ous meal and evening speakers. Bi
plane flights include an extensive
preflight and starting procedures
briefing for groups, followed by in
dividual flights.
Spirit of St. Louis Fantasy Flight Camp

mous airplane. The experience is

capped by a 30-minute flight. Take
the controls in the only Spirit of st.
Louis replica that flies under lind
bergh's original registration num
ber, N-X-21 1.
Ford Tri-Motor Fantasy Flight Camp

October 14-16. 2005

EAA's 1929 Ford Tri-Motor keeps

alive the early days of passen
ger transport spirit. This program
gives participants a new under
standing and appreCiation for one
of aviation's "classic" deSigns-af
fectionately referred to as the "Tin
Goose." The experience is capped
by a two-hour flight, during which
participants can log 0.2 hours at
the controls.

Sept. 30-0ct. 2. 2005

A truly unique opportunity! EAA

operates the world's only two-seat,
dual-control replica of the Spirit of
St Louis. Over this incredible week
end you will be immersed in the
history of Charles Lindbergh's fa-

Learn more about all three camps

at www.airventuremuseum.org/flightops/
fantasycamp/ or call 800-236-4800,
extension 6820. You can also e-mail
for more information by writing to
airacademy@eaa.org.
........
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

VAA AIRCRAFT AWARDS

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2005

ANTIQUE AIRCRAFT
(BUILT PRIOR TO 9/1/45 )

RUNNER UP

PRESERVATION

William Smith, Franklin, PA

1937 Monocoupe 110 SpeCial, N2064

Sydney Cohen , Wausau , WI

Ercoupe 415-D, N94196

ANTIQUE GRAND CHAMPION

Michael Wendt, Columbus , NE

1941 Boeing PT-17 N9686F
ANTIQUE RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION

Thomas Dinndorf, Baudette, MN

1938 Stinson SR-l0J , N21104
ANTIQUE BRONZE LI NDY - JU DGE'S CHOICE

Iren Dornier, Clark Field, Pampanga,

Philippines, 1936 Dornier Amphibian
DO 24ATI, RP-C2403

SILVER AGE ( 1928- 1 936)

PRESERVATION

RUNNER UP
Richard Hornbeck, Bowdoinham , ME
1929 Waco ASO, N608N

George Willford, Waterville , OH

Piper, PA-12, N3309M
MOST UNIQUE

CLASSIC 2005

( SEPT I , 1945 TO DEC 31 , 1955 )

Wayne Poppy, New London, WI

Hiller UH-12B N90577

CLASSIC GRAND CHAMPION

OUTSTANDING AERONCA CHAMP

Robert Baker, Dorr, MI

Aeronca 7AC , NC84020

Brandon Jewett, Brighton, CO

Aeronca 7AC, N1968E

REPLICA AIRCRAFT

John , Hudec, Collinsville , OK

2004 Waco UMF-5, N14377
WORLD WAR II TRAINERI

CLASSIC RESERVE GRAND CHAMPION

OUTSTANDING BEECHCRAFT

James Dyer, Brighton, CO - Piper, N78759

Mike Barron, Perry, MO

Beech C-45H N241

CLASSIC BRONZE LINDY

OUTSTANDING CESSNA 120/140

LIAISON AIRCRAFT

Frank Iacovelli, Arlington Heights, IL

1940 Boeing A75 , N725FR

Henry Roux, Willow Street, PA

Cessna 140A N5398C

CLASS I (0-80 HP )

Nicholas Howell , Aurora, CO

Aeronca AC , N85313

TRANSPORT CATEGORY

James Rollison, Vacavil e, CA

1943 Beech, N69044

OUTSTANDING CESSNA 1701180

CLASS 11 ( 81 - 150 HP )

Carl-Erik Olsen, Orinda, CA

Scandinavian Aero KZ VII, N159KZ

CUSTOMIZED AIRCRAFT

Robert Simon, Del Mar, CA

1943 Boeing N2S-3, N9039H
WORLD WAR II ERA (1942-1945 )

Robbie Vajdos, Louise, TX

1942 Stearman B75Nl, N93WW

OUTSTANDING CESSNA 1901195

CUSTOM CLASS III ( 151 - 235HP)

Kent & Sandy Blankenburg, Grovelancjj, CA

Luscombe llA, N1666B

Danny Davis, Arcadia, OK

Aero Commander 520, N590W

Ronald Tarrson, Santa Fe, NM

1940 Spartan 7W, N17662

OUTSTANDING LIMITED PRODUCTION

SILVER AGE ( 1928-1936)

Barry Holtz, Fairport, NY

Grumman G-44A, N402E

ANTIQUE PLAQUES
OUTSTANDING WORLD WAR II
MILITARY TRAINER/LIAISON

Beau Bradley, Sheridan, MT

e s na 195A N252BB
OUTSTANDING ERCOUPE

CLASS IV (236 HP & HIGHER)

BRONZE AGE (1937-194 1 )

Lewis Shaw, Dallas, TX

Waco CUC-2N14625

Donald Lindholm, Phoenix, AZ

Cessna 170A, N1424D

Ward Marsh, Dixon, CA

Ercoupe 415-C, NC93404
OUTSTANDING LUSCOMBE

arold Roeske, Roxbury, CT

Silvaire Luscombe 8F, N1885B
OUTSTANDING PIPER J-3

LARGE CLASSIC

LAQUES

Raymond Cook, Spring Grove, IL

Piper J3C-65 I09H

BEST CUSTOM CLASSIC

Bill Bradford, Independence, MO

Luscombe 8A, NX2133K

Hal Skinner, Springfield, OR

1941 Interstate S-lA, N37262

CLASSIC PLAQUES

CONTEMPORA~Y

2005

(JAN 1, 1956 TO DEC 31, 1967 )

CO

TEMPORARY GRAND CHAMPION

Dean Richardson, Stoughton, WI

Cessna 80H, N2451F

MONOPLANE

CUSTOM CLASS D ( 236 AND UP )

CUSTOM MULTI ENGINE

Russell Williams, Issaquah , WA

1938 Ryan Aeronautical SCW-145, N18914

Christopher Gardner, South St. PaUl, MN

Ryan Navion, N721CM

Mike Adkins, Butler, TN

Piper PA-30, N4YA

SEPTEMBER 2005

CLASS I SING L E -E NGINE (0- 160 HP )

Jack Demyan , Pasadena , MD

Champion FC, N7596B
CLASS II SI N GLE- E N GINE ( 16 1-230 HP )

Chris Bruck, St. Peters , MO

Cessna 182B, N182HD
C L ASS III S I NGLE - ENGINE
(23 1 HP & HIGHER )

Giffen Marr, Fort Worth, TX

Piper Comanche, N5272P
OUTSTANDING CUSTOMIZED

J.M . Dwight, Chehalis , WA

Cessna 182A, N6119B

CONTEMPORARY PLAQUES
OUTSTANDING BEECH SINGLE - ENGINE

Richard Wh ite , Plymouth , WI

Beech A23A, N701DW
OUTSTANDING BEECH MULTI-ENGINE

Don Binns, Ft. Myers, FL

Beech E18S, N7765N

Come for the wee en

BUILD FOR A LIFETIME

HANDS-ON

OUTSTANDING CESSNA 170/172/175

Patrick Halligan, Eagan, MN

Cessna 172, N7252A
OUT5TANDING CESSNA 1801182/210

Mark Holliday, lake Elmo, MN

Cessna 182, N5609B
OUTSTANDING CHAMPION

HOMEBUILDER WORKSHOP

SCHEDULE

Sept. 23-25
Oct. 1-2

Robert Gutteridge, Santa Rosa, CA

Champion 7FC, N7557B
OUTSTANDING PIPER PA-18 SUPER CUB

Oct. 14-16

Mark Warren, Coatesville, IN

Piper PA-18A 150, N960VS

Oct. 15-16

OUT5TANDING PIPER PA-24 COMANCHE

Columbus, OH
(Columbus State
Community College)

Composite Construction
Sheet Metal Basics Fabric Covering
Electrical Systems Cas Welding

Griffin, GA

TIC Welding

Corona, CA
(LA Area)

AndY Pell, Fremont, MI

Mooney M20C, N6691U
OUTSTANDING PA-22 TRI-PACER

Oct. 22-23

Chicago,IL
(lewis University)

Nov. 4-6

Frederick, MD

OUTSTANDING LIMITED PRODUCTION

BEST CONTINUOUSLY MAINTAINED

l elan'iSpafKs, San FranCiSCO, CA

Bellarl'ca 17-30, N6665V

SEAPLANE AWARDS
OUTSTANDING FABRIC FLOATPLANE

Dana Smith, Lindsay, ON, Canada

Piper PA-18, C-FZSK
OUTSTANDING METAL FLOATPLANE

Brent Wenger, Hayward, WI

Cessna 170B, N3287A

Composite Construction
Fabric Covering Sheet Metal Basics
Electrical Systems & Avion ics
Test Flying Your Proj ect

Composite Construction
Fabric Covering Sheet Metal Basics
Electrical Systems & Avion ics
Introduction to Aircraft Building
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(Atlanta Area)

OUT5TANDING PIPER PA-28 CHEROKEE

Marc Stamsta, Hartland, WI

Aeromere F.8l Falco, N212SF

_._

~-------+----------~~-Oct. 22-23
Griffin, GA
RV Assembly

Walt Meziere, Rockwall, TX

Piper PA-24-250, N6168P

RandY St. Julian, Garrettsville, OH

Piper PA-28-180, N4815l

Repairman (LSA) Inspection-Airplane

(Atlanta Area)

OUTSTANDING MOONEY

James Raleigh, Mexico, MO

Piper PA-22/20-150, N7117B

Denver, CO
(Westwood College)

EM SportAir
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VINTA GE AI R P L ANE

REMINISCING WITH BIG NICK

THE PYLON CLUB-PART II
by Nick Rezich
Photos courtesy of Nick Rezich
The Pylon Club opened officially
on Valentine's Day with Bob Babb,
the aluminum welder from Howard
Aircraft, serving as chief mixologist
and my brother Frank and I assisting
behind the timber. Opening night was
gangbusters-we were wall to wall in
people, and they were standing five
deep outside trying to get in. The
club was an overnight success. Word
about the Pylon Club spread like fire
throughout the aviation industry and
auto-racing fraternity, which resulted
in every night being New Year's Eve.
The Pylon Club started out as a sa
loon, but it wasn't long before it also
served as an employment agency, a
ground school, an aviation consultant
service, a charitable institution, and
a center for EAA recruiting, aircraft
sales, blood donors, and marriage and
divorce counseling.
The club also introduced many
firsts, including the first public use of

the now popular "Gone Flying" signs.

The "Gone Flying" sign came
about due to my absence while I was
flying weekend air shows or flying for
the non-skeds. About four months
after the club was opened, I signed
on with several non-skeds to fly and
supply flight crews out of Chicago on
a demand basis. What I mean by "on
a demand basis" is that a flight would
leave Burbank for New York with stops
in Kansas City and Chicago with only
a crew of two pilots and the required
stewardess. They'd be out of time by
the time they reached MDW. During
the '50s the FAA was riding herd on
all the non-skeds and checking papers
and logs at every stop. Nine times out
of 10, when a flight would arrive at
MDW, the airplane was legal, but the
crew wasn't to go on to "La Garbage,"
so a fast phone call to the Pylon Club
was in order to furnish a fresh crew
for the New York leg. It was during

this time that I hired extra barkeepers

and the "Gone Flying" sign evolved.
The two daytime barkeepers were
mail carriers from the post office one
block west of the club, and the night
crew came from the Midway control
tower. I'll skip over Roy and Milo, the
daytime help, at this time because they
are a whole story by themselves. The
tower guys were watch supervisors at
MDW who loved to fly and enjoyed
the company of other pilots. I would
like to name them, but with all but
one of them still being with the FAA, I
don't think it is ethical at this time to
remind some supervisor about their
activities some 25 years ago.
The "Gone Flying" sign saved a lot
of explaining as to my whereabouts.
When I was away flying an air show,
we would hang the air show poster
under the sign, and if I was out on
a non-sked trip, we would hang a
strip with my destination and retum

Reprinted from Vintage Airplane February 1975

6

SEPTEMBER 2005

date on the sign. I don't know

now taking on the shape of a
where Flying picked up the idea
major event that would require
of its "Gone Flying" sign, but
funding and much help.
I called on club member and
believe you me, it was the Py
lon Club that originated and
old-time EAA favorite "Pete"
Myers to join me in the Travel
popularized it.
The Pylon Club's success and
Air and the Bailey Super Cub
worldwide notoriety was not a
for the air show portion and
result of my sole efforts or pop
Mike Burson for the chute
ularity, but that of the people
jumps. We now had an air
and happenings that were a
show not much different than
part of the club.
a regular weekend show. We re
Many people were responsi
cruited Walter Brownell, former
ble for the success of the club,
test pilot for Howard, and John
but I must single out a great
Murray as pilots for the airlift.
humanitarian who played a
We printed official kite contest
major role in the club and my
rules and entry forms, ordered
trophies, and lined up a panel
well-being.
The late "Dan" Clark was
of judges, cooks for the spare
ribs, an official starter, and my
the president of his family's Dan Clark holding his winning kite, the Pylon Club
firm in Chicago and resided Special No. 43. Number 43 was the racing number
brother Mike for the beer.
in a modest home close to the for the Rezich Brothers Goodyear racer.
Another trip to Bailey Air
club. Dan was a close friend of
port was necessary, this time to
Benny Howard, and it was through Airport was a private airport operated obtain permission to bring beer on
Benny that I met Dan while working by the Bailey brothers, Charley and the premises. Permission was granted
for Howard. Dan was an avid auto Don, on their father's farm, and it was with the mutual agreement that no
racing and air racing fan and a guy best thought that we should obtain beer would be served until after the
who the whole world loved, and he approval of the Bailey family before air show and all airplanes were put
in tum loved the world of people.
we dragged all the saloon people down away for the day. We adhered to the
agreement religiously; however, we
It was Dan Clark who intro to their peaceful and quiet farm.
duced the club to the world of busi
The following Saturday Dan and I learned a thirsty lesson the first year.
ness, which included such names as drove down to the farm to seek per We flew until sundown, giving rides
the Rothschilds of European banking mission for our wacky contest. During in the "Clark Airlines" BT-13.
fame, Sherman Brothers Furniture, the hour-and-a-half drive to the farm,
By sundown many tongues were
and numerous other world figures of we concluded that we were defeating hanging long and dry, including yours
industry. As a regular club member Dan the purpose of our boasting-mainly truly. The following years we made
knew everybody who came through that kids today don't build their own some modifications to the airlift by
the doors and vice versa. He was as kites as we did in the years past. It adding more airplanes and pilots so
much a part of the club as I was.
was then decided to open the con we could get to that beer sooner.
Our first annual picnic was a re test to all of the Pylon Club's mem
The kite contests were good for
sult of a bragging contest we had bers and their families. We now had business due to the publicity gained
over who could build and fly a kite a program-a special fly-off between from the annual event. We had con
higher than the other. The more we Dan and me, and an open contest for testants come from all over the coun
bragged how good we were, the more all. When we announced our crazy try just for the contest and picnic. I
the customers encouraged us to have program to the Baileys, they were still get letters to this day inquiring
a contest. What started out as a pri overjoyed and suggested we hold the when and where the next contest is
vate boasting affair now turned into contest on a Sunday so they could going to be held. Dan always won our
a full-blown contest with everybody participate by furnishing fresh sweet personal kite fly-offs. He proved his
wanting to witness the outcome. This com for a corn boil and making lem pOint every year-he was the better
tickled Dan, and he agreed to the fly onade for the thirsty. Hence, the idea kite builder!
off with the stipulation that the kites of a picnic. Driving back to the club
I could tell stories about Dan for the
would be homebuilt, and no box kites Dan suggested we send invitations to next 10 years and never run out of ma
were allowed.
all of the out-of-town members and terial ... like the time he led a six-car
The site of the contest was to be make it a huge gala affair complete caravan up to race driver Bob Muhlke's
the Bailey Airport in Lowell, Indiana, with an air show, an airlift, parachute Clover Club in Skokie, Illinois.
where Dan kept his BT-13 in a hangar jumps, etc.-the works!
This was a two-level, wall-to-wall
along with my Travel Air. The Bailey
Our little private kite contest was carpeted saloon that was the gatherVINTAGE A I RPLA NE

ing place for all the

Indy 500 drivers and
owners. The six-car
caravan contained
the members and
friends of the Pylon
Club band that was
invited to perform
at Muhlke's dur
ing the "Indy 500
Week." Muhlke had
arranged to have
Merle Bellenger's
Indy 500 winning
race car on display
along with the own
ers and drivers of
the rest of the field.
The evening was
quite festive, with
most everyone be
ing pretty well bent
out of shape by 2:00
a.m. When it was
time to go home,
Dan lined all six
cars behind his new
Hudson and cau
tioned all of us not Big Nick behind the timber at the Pylon Club.
to race or pass him
and that he would lead us home us. About 10 minutes later Dan and
without getting pinched. I must say the copper return, and Dan gives
here that Dan loved to drive at high us the crank up signal. As we start
speeds, so it was hard to believe that up, I notice the squad car pulling in
we would make it back to the Pylon front of Dan's car with the red flash
Club without a race with Dan. Nev ers on . I knew it-we were going
ertheless, we followed. All went well to the slammer! Damn you, Dan!
and legal for the first 10 miles when, Damn me for following! Suddenly,
suddenly, Dan puts his foot into it. we were running at SO mph again .
As we are going through Cicero, Il With the police car in front and the
linois, a place no Chicago driver last car doing 60. I don 't know to
should get pinched, sure enough, this day what Dan said to the cop
the race lasted about 2 miles when per or what he paid .. .if he paid ...
a squad car pulled all of us over to but I do know that we were escorted
the curb. As the two burly cops ap at SO mph to the Chicago city limits
proached Dan's car, Dan gets out and turned loose!
When we all arrived back at the
and tells the copper that all the cars
belong to him, and he will take care club, I asked Dan how did he do
of all of them. About now I knew it and how much did it cost...he
we were all going to spend the laughingly told us to be careful
night in the pokey and that it was driving home.
Then there was the time we all
going to cost a bundle to get out of
were
driving to my brother Frank's
this one. Dan and the No.1 cop
per exchange some good words and wedding reception. I had just pur
then drive off in Dan's car while the chased a new Dodge and was driv
No.2 boy watches over the rest of ing at 30 mph to break it in when
8

SEPTEMBER 2005

Dan pulled up be
hind me and started
pushing me. We
went through the
busy intersection
of 79th and Ash
land Ave . doing
55 mph-Dan was
pushing and laugh
ing Jo Anne, my
wife, was screaming,
"Stop! Stop!" . . . and
I was steering like
hell, hoping and
praying nobody
pulled out in front
of me. That gutless
Dodge would never
have out-acceler
ated Dan's Hudson,
so I rode it out.
We turned the
tables on Dan one
nigh t. He had a
home in Miami
and would visit his
mother regularly.
Before going on his
visits he would al
ways stop in the
club and tell me his schedule and
check to see who would be flying
the trip. His favorite airline to Mi
ami was Delta, and it would do
anything to please Dan.
When I found out what flight
Dan was going on, I called the
Delta station manager and told him
I would like to bring my band from
the saloon out to Midway and set
up on the ramp alongside the load
ing ramp to give Dan a surprise
send-off. The manager said it was
okay with him if it was okay with
the airport. The airport's okay was
no sweat because John Casey, the
airport manager, was an old friend
of mine and a club member. We put
the band between the DC-7 and
the terminal out of sight from the
waiting lounge. When Dan walked
out of the terminal, we started by
playing "Danny Boy" followed by
"Moon Over Miami" and the Pylon
Club's Signature song, "When the
Saints Go Marching In!"

Ole Dan damn

space for customers.
near fell off the
The club was opened
boarding ramp with
during Mardi Gras,
surprise . The cap
and to mark the oc
tain met Dan at the
casion the band
doorway and ad
adopted the song
vised him that he
"When the Saints Go
was Delta's first ce
Marching In" as our
lebrity to be boarded
Signature number.
with an orchestra.
So, when we would
When they fin
open the night's first
ished boarding all
show I would lead
the passengers, we
the band out of the
went into our Dix
saloon playing the
ieland show num
"Saints" and would
ber. This brought
march up the back
the whole plane
of my car, over the
load to the door,
roof, and down the
and the captain was
hood while bang
leaning out of the
ing drums. We then
cockpit for a better
would march down
look and listen.
to the corner and
All the black por
back-all the while
ters were on the
playing the "Saints."
ramp doing a jig,
My new Dodges were
saying, "MI. Clark
a huge mass of dents
that would have
sho' goes first class."
By this time the
been on my cus
whole terminal con
tomers ' cars if they
Big Nick at the drums back in the Pylon Club days. If you've seen him fly
verged on the Delta
parked in front.
the Travel Air, you've seen only haN the show .. he doesn't walk on cars
ramp. We kept play
People would
too much anymore, but he still plays a mean set of drums!
ing, waiting for the
come from all over
skipper to start the

the continent just

engines, but unbeknownst to me,
bridges (with my Culver Cadet), to see that march, and I didn't dare
he was waiting for us to stop and
but I wasn't crazy.
disappoint them.
leave the ramp.

During the '50s Chicago was still

A friend of mine had a saloon
After about 40 minutes the sta
operating two-man streetcars on down the street, and most times I
tion manager advised me that he 63rd Street, which ran in front of would march the band through her
had to release the flight because an the club, and whenever I felt devil
saloon and back, and in doing so, I
incoming flight needed the gate . ish and generous I would run out would clean out all of her custom
The Delta flight was over an hour front and flag down a streetcar and ers who would follow us back to my
late getting off, but not one pas invite everybody on board in to the place. Her place had a large set of
senger complained. Dan spent the saloon for a free drink, play them doors, so one night I jumped into
whole trip explaining the band and a fast number on the drums, and an M.G. that my bass player owned
telling the passengers about the Py
send them on their way. The first and drove it into and out of her
lon Club and Crazy Nick. I have al
few times I pulled that stunt I damn place before anybody realized what
ways wondered what the captain near got run over by the streetcar. had happened ... Crazy Nick? No
and station manager filed as the But after the motorman got to know way! We had some crazy customers
reason for the one-hour delay in the spot and word was passed on, also, like Merle F. Buck, who played
departing MDW.
he would slow down and stop right a piano concert in the rain on the
~ don't know why they called me
in front of the place and inform the street in front of the club. Yes, the
Crazy Nick ... sure, I stopped street
riders it was okay to leave the car. I piano belonged to the club.
cars and invited the passengers in drove the coppers nuts!
I'm late again-gotta run. Next
for a drink, and I wa lked on auto
First-time customers could never month I'll tell you about Crazy Bart
mobiles, drove sports cars through figure out why I parked my own ... the blood run ... the python lady
other's saloons, and flew under car out front instead of leaving the .. . the Pylon Club and EAA. ......
V IN TAGE AI RPLA NE

THE

q.JMi

PRACTICAL AIRPLANE

Part II: The season of success

H.G.
sing all they knew from the
105 flights made with the
1904 Flyer II, the Wrights
completed the Flyer III
over the winter of 1904-1905, using
the hardware and engine from the
previous airplane. It took some time
for the craft to be assembled, and
poor weather hampered their start
in 1905. By early summer of 1905,
they were ready to resume flying at
Huffman Prairie.
With revisions to the machine,
which they thought would cure
the pitch instability, the new craft
weighed 850 pounds, including
enough water and fuel to run the
engine for an hour. To remedy the
odd characteristic they encountered
when the airplane slid sideways in
a turn, they added a pair of vertical
semicircular vanes between the for
ward rudders' twin surfaces.
They had built a new shed build
ing closer to the Simms Station in
terurban trolley rail stop that ran
along the road along the north
west side of Huffman Prairie. Char

(UJ

10

SEPTEMBER 2005

FRAUTSCHY

lie Taylor had been serving as their

"airport manager," overseeing and
participating in the construction
of the 1904 and 1905 sheds, and
working on the revised engine de
sign. Still using the basic horizontal
four-cylinder design they had used
for the 1903 Flyer, it could now
produce 16 hp and would eventu
ally produce 20 hp during the 1905
season. At one pOint during testing
it produced 22 hp for a short time.
By June they were ready, and on
June 23, they pulled the weight up
to the top of the derrick, and Orville
piloted the first attempt that Friday:
Wilbur Wright's Diary F, 1905,
pages 1-3:
Friday, June 23, 1905
(1.) First flight. O. W Time 9-1/2
sec. WW. 8-3/ 4", C.E. T. 76 Ft.
wind [at 45 ]. Distance 272 ft. over
ground. The left wind was struck in
landing and four ribs were cracked at
rear left corner. [Power insufficient.
Missing explosions. *] The machine
was fitted with two semicircular ver
tical front vanes (7 sq. ft.), and was

very hard to control. Picture.

A couple of explanations are
needed at this pOint. Each flight
was timed by the pilot, in this case
Orville Wright, as well as at least
one observer on the ground. For
this event, Wilbur Wright timed the
flight, and Charlie (C.E.T.) made an
observation about the current con
ditions, presumably with an ane
mometer. It also mentions a 45
crosswind. The items in brackets
denote sentence fragments added
from Orville's diary. The troubles
from the previous year continued
to dog them, and the next day, an
other type of accident took place.
Wilbur continued in his Diary F:
While getting ready for first start
the anchor stake was pulled from the
ground and the machine ran down
the track with O. W doubled over the
front handle riding backwards. For
tunately no serious damage to man
or machine.
It was the second time the ma
chine's restraining stake had got
ten loose, and the Flyer had been

Lead Photo: The beginning of the

flying season, 1905. Orville Wright
is at the controls of the Flyer III
on June 23. Wilbur appears to be
running alongside, while Charlie
Taylor stands to the far right. On
the extreme right, the weight-driven
catapult derrick is visible. This is the
first photograph taken by the Wrights
of that apparatus. With the engine
developing a misfire, the flight lasted
only 9-112 seconds and covered 272
feet. The Flyer III was hard to control
and landed heavily on the left wing,
breaking four wing ribs.

pulled down the rail before one of

the brothers was ready to fly. Both
times Orville leapt to the front of
the Flyer, and at least one time he
depressed the lever for the forward
rudder so the machine wouldn't
rear up at the end of the rail and
smash itself into the prairie.
While photos were taken that
day, the control difficulties ap
peared to preoccupy the brothers,
as no other photos appear to have
been taken until September. The
ninth flight of the season was at

tempted on July 14, 1905.

Wilbur Wright's Diary F, 1905,
pages 6-7:
Friday, July 14, 1905
Wind N. W. 6-7 miles [straight

ahead]
(9.) First {light. O. W Distance 568
ft. Time about 12 sec. Anem.-251
meters. The machine seemed to steer
all right laterally, but after attaining
high speed began to undulate some
what and suddenly turned downward
and struck at a considerable angle
breaking front skids, front rudder, up
per front spar and about a dozen ribs,
and lower front spar and one upright.
The machine rolled over on front edge.
O. W was thrown violently out though
the broken top surface but suffered no
injury at all.
/n repairing machine a number of
changes were made. F[ront] rudder in
creased to about 84 ft. and placed 12
ft. from front edge of machine. Turns
upward 31 and downward 26. Total
weight about 870 lbs. Owing to very
hard rain the field became {loaded and
delayed us several weeks.

that fl ying at speeds approaching

35 to 40 mph could be dangerous,
but this accident was a close cali,
and they knew it. Amazingly, once
again Orville came out of the ac
cident with nothing more than
bumps and bruises. They had to
come up with a solution to the sta
bility problem that had perSisted
since December of 1903, or the un
dulations they regularly encoun
tered would prevent them from
making an airplane that could be
considered safe to fly.
In the 1912 disposition men
tioned in part I of this story, Wilbur
wrote about the risk:

"/n 1905 we built another machine

and resumed our experiments in the
same field near Dayton, Ohio. Our par
ticular object was to clear up the mystery
which we had encountered on a few oc
casions during the preceding year. Dur
ing all the {lights we had made up to this
time we had kept close to the ground,
usually within ten feet of the ground,
in order that, in case we met any new
and mysterious phenomenon, we could
That was it.

make a safe landing. With only one life

Both brothers had long known
to spend we did not consider it advisable

September 7, 1905. Flight 23. After suffering a nearly disastrous crash on July 17, the brothers completely redesigned the
forward rudder (elevator), moving it further out in front of the machine and increasing its surface area. The changes paid
off, and by this flight, they were able to control the airplane consistently. Orville made two complete circles with the Flyer III
during a 2-minute, 45-second flight.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

t t

The 41st flight, the second of two flights on September 29, 1905. After the
Wrights' warmup flight of one circle in the morning, Torrance Huffman, the
owner of the prairie the Wrights had borrowed for their flying experiments
in 1904 and 1905, was present for this flight, which lasted an astounding
14 circles of the field, traveling 19,570 meters in 19 minutes, 55 seconds,
according to Wilbur's stopwatch time of Orville's flight. The Flyer III averaged
36 miles per hour. Wilbur took 12 photographs of the flight, which lasted until
Orville ran the Flyer Ill's gas tank dry.

to attempt to exploTe mysteries at such

great height from the ground that a fall
would put an end to our investigations
and leave the mystery unsolved. /I
Even while keeping close to the
ground and rarely exceeding 20 feet
in altitude, accidents were happen
ing on a regular basis to both O.W.
and W.W., as they referred to each
other in their pocket notebook di
aries . If they flew any higher, acci
dents such as Orville's on the 14th
of July would most likely be fatal.
A major revision was made to the
layout of the Flyer Ill 's design during
the rebuild of the machine. The for
ward rudder was increased from just
over 52 square feet in surface area to
84 square feet, and it was moved from
7.32 feet to 11.7 feet in front of the
wings. The greater surface area and
added moment arm meant the added
ballast weight could be removed.
They resumed flying on Thursday,
August 24. Three flights were made,
and the changes to the Flyer proved
to be on target. The Flyer had become
12

SEPTEMBER 2005

more controllable. One other aspect

of the flights proved to be noteworthy
enough that Wilbur felt it needed to be
mentioned. At the end of his diary en
try for that day, he jotted down, IINoth_
ing broken in any of these three flights. II
That was a big change from their previ
ous experiences.
Soon the flights started lasting
over a half a minute on a regular ba
sis, and as the brothers became ac
customed to the aircraft's handling,
without having to concentrate
on overcoming the pitch instabil
ity, flights like the ones made on
Wednesday, September 6, 1905,
were obtained:
(20.) 1st trial. O. W 620 meters [in]
40-1/5 sec. W W 37 sec. C. E. T. 37-4/5
sec. Distance over ground. 1,688 [ft.]
(21.) 2nd trial. O. W [Speed through
air] 16.5 [meters per sec). 4,730 meters
[in] 4' 54 sec. W W 4' 46-% sec. C.
E. T. 4' 47-2/5/1." Four rounds offield,
and landed at starting point.
The pitch instability problem
seemed to be fixed; they no longer

had to endure the ever-increasing

undulations that would end in an
abrupt landing, which often meant
repairs, some major, would have to
be made. Their confidence in solv
ing the riddle began to relax them as
well. In one entry concerning a flight
on Wednesday, August 30, 1905, by
Orville, Wilbur wrote that the flight
was "A very comical performance."
Orville's landing resulted in break
ing the ends of four wing ribs.
There was one more problem that
kept them from making even longer
flights. Their accidents were not re
stricted to the problems with pitch
stability. A curious loss of speed and
a subsequent "arrival" in the hum
mock-filled pasture was still happen
ing with annoying frequency.
Wilbur wrote in his 1912 dispo
sition:
17he machine had reached the
ground, in the peculiar cases J have
mentioned, too soon fOT us to deter
mine whether the trouble was due to
slowness of the correction or whether
it was due to a change of conditions,
which would have increased in in
tensity, if it had continued, until the
machine would have been entirely
overturned and quite beyond the con
trol of the operator. Co nsequently, it
was necessary, or at leas t advisable,
to discover the exact cause of the phe
nomenon before attempting any high
flights. For a long time we were un
able to determine the peculiar condi
tions under which this trouble was to
be expected. But as time passed, we
began to note that it usually occurred
when we were turning a rather short
circle. We, therefore, made short circles
sometimes for the purpose of investi
gating and noting the exact conduct of
the machine from the time the trouble
began until the landing was made./I
Time after time, the vexing "pecu
liar cases" occurred during 1905, as
they had in 1904. Wilbur continued:
IIAt one time we thought it might
be due to the fact that the ma ch ine,
in circling, did not face exactly in the
direction of the line of motion. To test
this point we disconn ected the rudder
wire from the warping wire and oper
ated the rudder by an entirely separate

Another of the 12 photographs taken of flight 41 shows Orville flying 60 feet

over Huffman Prairie. Compared to the 1904 machine, one can clearly see how
far forward the Wrights placed the elevator after the July 17 crash.

INTERESTING WRIGHT WEBSITES:

www.wrightexperience.com
www.first-to-fly.com

Plenty of Wright materials here, including a nice collection of photographs of all

19 aircraft produced by the Wrights and their company. Also included is a delightful
interview and caricatures of the Wrights by Kate Carew, a wellknown journalist and
artist working at that time for the New York World.
www.rootcandles.com

In addition to their current business, a short summary of the A.1. Root company
history is maintained on this site, and it includes full excerpts of the January 1 and
January 15, 1905, articles written by Amos Root about his experiences at Huffman
Prairie the previous year.
www./ibraries. wright. edu/ special/ wrighCbrothers/
The Online Archives of Wright State University. There is an extensive collection of

Wright materials within the library's collection , which was donated to the university
by the Wright family in 1975.
References :

A number of published sources were consulted to compile these articles, chief

among them:
The Bishops Boys, A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright, by Tom Crouch
The Papers of Wilbur and Orville Wright, including the Chanute-Wright Letters ,

Volume 1, 1899-1905, edited by Marvin W. McFarland , Aeronautics Division of the

Library of Congress
Kill Devil Hill, Discovering the Secret of the Wright Brothers , by Harry Combs ,

with Martin Caidin

The Wright Brothers, by Fred C. Kelly

You can see the original Wright Flyer ilion display at the Wright Brothers Aviation
Center at Carillon Historical Park in Dayton , Ohio. Log onto www.carillonpark.orgfor
park hours and other information.

handle. The trouble, however, contin

ued as before. A flight. .. was made on
the 28th of September, 1905, with the
rudder wires entirely disconnected from
the warping wires. When it was no
ticed that the machine was tilting up
and sliding toward the tree, the oper
ator turned the machine down
in front (emphasis ours-VA Ed.)
and found that the apparatus then re
sponded promptly to the lateral control.
The remedy was found to consist in the
more skillful operation of the machine
and not in a different construction. The
trouble was really due to the fact that
in circling, the machine has to carry the
load resulting from centrifugal force, in
addition to its own weight, since the ac
tual pressure that the air must sustain
is that due to the resultant of the two
forces. The machine in question had but
a slight surplus ofpower above what
was required for straight flight, and as
the additional load, caused by circling,
increased rapidly as the circle became
smaller, a limit was finally reached be
yond which the machine was no lon
ger able to maintain sufficient speed
to sustain itself in the air. And as the
lifting effect of the inner wing, owing
to its reduced speed, counterbalanced a
large part of the increased lift resulting
from the greater angle of incidence on
that wing, the response to lateral con
trol was so slow that the machine sank
to the ground, usually before it had
been brought back to the level again .
. . . When we had discovered the real
nature of the trouble, and knew that it
could always be remedied by tilting the
machine forward a little, so that its fly
ing speed would be restored, we felt that
we were ready to place flying machines
on the market. "
The brothers clearly understood
the nature of wing loading and how
the additional load of turning flight
was affecting their airplane. They
knew that maintaining forward speed
was essential, and by doing so they
avoided the slide to the inside of the
turn they had been fighting. With
the problem solved, higher flights of
40 to 60 feet in altitude were com
monplace. By the beginning of Oc
tober, they were flying the Flyer III
at will, and flight times started being
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

13

The last photographed

of 1905. Wednesday, October 4, 1905, 4:32 p.m. The
brothers' sister, Katharine, as well as their father, Milton, were present along with
nine others (including Charlie Taylor) when Orville flew for 33 minutes, 17 seconds
on Wilbur's stopwatch, covering nearly 21 miles. Now they were confronted
with new mechanical difficulties. As their flight times increased, they began to
experience overheated bearings. By this flight, they'd added an oiler to the rear
bearing on the axle under the chains, but not on the front bearing. You guessed
it, the flight ended as the front bearing overheated. Orville shut down the engine
while in flight and g1ided 400 feet to land in front of the storage shed. His record
for flight endurance would stand for exactly one day-on October 5, 1905, Wilbur
would keep the Flyer III in the air for 30 laps of the field, flying 38 minutes, 3-1/5
seconds, according to Orville. The slightly more than 24-mile flight would stand as
the record until they resumed their flights in 1908.

measured in half-hour increments,

instead of half a minute.
The weather hadn't helped them
much either. In a letter t o Octave
Chanute, dated October 18, 1905,
Wilbur wrote: li Th e wet weather of
this year has very much interfered with
our practice by keeping the ground so
wet and soft that we have been entirely
prevented from operating many days
when the sky was clear. Th e labor of
moving the machine on wh eels has
been greatly increased, and the over ex14

SEPT EM B ER 2005

ertion produces quick exhaustion, so

that only a few flights can be made at
a time. The wet grounds did not permit
us to resume experiments till the last
week of September, but the next two
weeks were so fin e that we did more fly
ing than in all our previous flights of
three years put together. On the 26th we
passed the ten-mile mark for the first
time with a flight of 17,961 meters in
18 min. and 9 sec. The exhaustion of
the gasoline supply ended the fl ight. /I
For a week, it seemed that every

time they mounted the Flyer on the

rail and launched it, the pilot set a
new record. Th e only limitin g fac
tors were the gasoli n e su pply and
th e n ew prob lem of ove rhea t ing
bearings. Th e e n gine a nd ch ain
d rive tra n smission were ru nning
so long that the transmission bear
ings would run out of lubrican t, so
t h ey added oil cup s to th em. The
same thing happen ed occasionally
t o th e fro nt en gine bearing. Th e
airp lane co uld b e fl ow n alm ost
wh en ever it pleased them, and on
the 5th of October, Wilbur flew the
Flyer for the second to th e last time
that yea r. He remained aloft for 30
laps over Huffm an Prairie, fl ying
38,956 me ters (24 .2 miles) in just
over 38 minutes. The weather that
fall was st ill u nse ttl ed , a nd th e
last fli ght of th e 1905 season, on
Mon day, October 16, lasted only
a bi t more than a minute. Delays
prevented Wilbur from flying un
til a 5 p. m . laun ch , "t oo lat e for
extended fli ght," according to his
di ary en try. It would be over two
years befo re eith er broth er woul d
t ake to t h e air agai n-on May 6,
1908, in Kitty Hawk, North Caro
lina. Th ey t ook the 1905 Flyer III
t o th eir o ld ca m p on th e Out er
Banks to kn ock th e rust off of their
flying skills before th eir fi rst major
public flight dem onstrations in the
Un ited States and Fran ce .
By the fall of 1905, they knew they
had a practical airplane. Now all they
had to do was sell it. It would prove
to be as great a challenge as either of
them would ever face.
......
All of the images presented in this
article are available as digital downloads
from the Library of Congress website.
Start your search at www./oc.gov/ rr/ print/

catalog.html.

Tap the blue "I'm ready to search " but

ton, and when the next page comes up,
click on the W hyperlink, or scroll to the
very bottom of t he page. The Wright Broth
ers Collection is number 57. Once you 're
at the search page for the Wright Collec
tion, just enter a keyword such as "1904"
and a list of images will be presented.
Have fun. There are plenty of interesting
images-more than 300 Wright images
scanned from their original glass plate
negatives are part of the Library of Con
gress' collection.

~Inc. SU PE R.I
AIR

PART S.

INC .

~~!!!';!m

~-:S;'

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veryone in this part of avia

tion is a wannabe restorer.
We're all gripped by a some
times-irrational dream that we
can take a lump of coal and, through
a lot of elbow grease and a small
amount of money, turn it into a dia
mond. That part of the dream is ab
solutely sound. Where it falls apart is
when we convince ourselves we can
do it more economically than we can
buy the same airplane already fin
ished. This, too, is possible, but only
under specific circumstances.
Quite often the real joy of the proj
ect is found in the process of restor
ing, and the fun of flying the restora
tion is just a by-product. However, that
fun can come with a price. If you don't
want your joy flattened by a financial
steamroller, it's a good idea to stand
back with a sharp pencil and cold eye
and do a serious evaluation of not only
the airplane, but also the person you
see in the mirror each morning. It's
only after totally understanding the
person holding the hammer that we
can turn our eye toward the restora
tion process and why we should or
shouldn't be doing it.

Why Are You Doing This?

The answer to the above question
had better be, "Because I like working
with my hands and creating things that
fly," not "Because I want something
16 SEPTEMBER 2005

cheap to fly." If you want to fly more

than you want to build, you had bet
ter find a flying airplane or pick a very,
very cosmetic restoration project. Oth
erwise, you'll get discouraged. You have
to love the airplane and the process of
restoring if you expect to finish.

Time
There is little argument that time
is the only truly nonrenewable re
source on the planet. We have a lim
ited supply, and it has to be carefully
spread around for us to accomplish,
share, and be what we are supposed
to be. For that reason, the concept of
doing something in our "free" time
doesn't hold water. No time is "free." It
all comes from somewhere.
Most of us have inflexible blocks of
time, like jobs: semiflexible blocks, like
sleep: and what we usually view as flexi
ble blocks, such as family time, TV time,
etc. Unfortunately, though, that univer
sal view of time is actually backward, in
terms of getting an airplane restored.
It's a running joke throughout avia
tion that airplanes lead to AIDS, avi
ation induced divorced syndrome,
which is almost always the result of the
reverse thinking above. Family and rela
tionships should not be treated as time
piggy banks from which we can steal
hours and transfer them into our proj
ect. This kind of thought pattern in
evitably leads to "project resentment"

within the family or relationship.

It's a mistake to "take" time from the
family to work on an airplane, but it's a
huge benefit if a family "gives" you that
time. A family that resents a project be
comes an impediment and often dooms
the project, the relationship, or often
both. A family that is made a part of
the project, however, and that is behind
it becomes a great source of support,
and the airplane then becomes a gath
ering pOint for everyone involved. It's
a wonderful thing when an airplane is
referred to as the "Smith Family Cub."
That means relationships have bene
fited from the airplane and vice versa.
What the foregoing means is that
you have to carefully look at your life
and see if you actually have the time
and family support to do a restoration
and, if so, at what level. Do you have
to take Jenny to soccer every Tuesday
and Thursday, and does Scott have lit
tle League on Saturday? Evaluate the
demands on your time, and recognize
which time blocks you can steal from
(TV, sleep, golf) and which blocks you
can't (family activities, job, etc.). Then
come up with an "available time bud
get" and see how it fits against a pro
posed project.

How Much Time

Are We Talking About?

The question of time required is com

parable to "how high is up?" It is, how

ever, something that you can control by

the type of project you get into. Strip
ping paint (an ugly job but a great place
to save money) and prepping for new
paint can run 60 to 100 hours easy
ften much more. A full restoration on
something like a Luscombe could run
1,000 to 1,500 hours (a pure guess) and
much higher, if you're doing the pol
ished-super-show-bird route, while a
larger airplane like a straight-tail 172
may be 25 percent to 35 percent more.
What does 1,000 hours mean in a
normal life? At two hours a night, five
nights a week plus maybe five hours
on the weekend, you're at 15 hours a
week, which is actually a lot of time. At
that rate, 1,000 hours will eat up about
15 months, and that's if you keep a
steady pace. Hey, no one said restora
tion was either easy or quick! A serious
restoration project, like doing a Stear
man from the bones up, could take
three to four times that amount. A lit
tle daunting isn't it?

What Kind of Shop

Facilities Do I Need?
What kind of shop? If we're talking
buying versus building, the obvious
answer to one approach is "You don't
need a shop at all. Just a bank loan."
The other is "You need space that fits
the project plus some elbow room."
There have been T-6s restored in sec
ond-story New York loft apartments
and C-140s done in living rooms, but
that's not conducive to finishing proj
ects or enhancing marital bliss.
Space. Almost any of the two-place
classics are great two-car, or even one
car, garage projects, but things start to
get crowded as soon as you move into
four-place aircraft, and a two-car garage
is about minimum. With proper plan
ning and a place to store large compo
nents, it can still be done in a single
car garage, but it isn't easy. Probably
the most common size shop for larger
projects is 30 feet by 40 feet, but, again,
you can do with half that space, if you
plan ahead.
location. Given a choice between
a smaller but adequate work space at
home and a much larger one even a
block away, pick the one at home. If
you have to as much as put on a coat

and walk 100 feet, it'll slow the project

down because you'll find after-dinner
excuses not to go to work. Proximity

and convenience are everything when it

comes to finishing a project.
Lighting. There is no such thing as
too much light. Scout around for used
fluorescent fixtures, and get lots and
lots of light in there. A bright work
pLace is cheerier and more inviting, so
you'll get more done.
Tools. Tools required are driven by
the type and degree of the restoration.
A paint-and-interior or a purely me
chanical restoration won't need rivet
ing or welding equipment. If you're
bringing it up to the ready-for-paint
stage and farming the paint out, you
won't even need an air compressor. A
light restoration can be done with your
normal hand tools.
Paint. The subject of paint is worthy
of an entire book, but suffice it to say
that painting is an art learned through
experience. If you're going to be criti
cal about the final looks, get it totally
prepped and masked, which is where
most of the labor is invested, and get a
pro to blow the final coats. If you want
to tackle it yourself, be ready to con
struct a crude paint booth out of plas
tic sheeting, and your tools-required list
will inl.rolve exhaust fans and high-end
respirators or free-air supply systems,
depending on the type of paint used.
You'll also need a high-capacity air com
pressor and good spray guns. Also, get a
pro to advise you on the paint, because
some of it will kill you in a heartbeat.
The stuff that looks the best is the most
lethal. Lay in a supply of Valium to pre
pare you for paying the paint bill, be
cause the price of most modern paints
can be a real heart-stopper. Four hun
dred dollars per gallon is common.

How Will We Handle the

Money Question?
Most of us don't have money lying
around loose, so we have to carefully
examine the finances of restoring or
buying. If you're buying, the financ
ing thing is pretty cut and dried, as
there are lots of aircraft finance com
panies ready to cut you a deal. Most
restoration projects are airplanes that
range from the classics to the contem

poraries, and buying the same airplane

ready to fly will generally run from
$20,000 to $50,000 dollars. Financed
for five years at 8 percent, $20,000 is
$635 per month, and you'll pay $2,896
interest over the term. If you borrow
$50,000, you'll pay $1,037 per month
with $12,275 in interest. If you take it
out to seven years, the payment drops
by about 20 percent, but the interest
goes up about 40 percent.
It's theoretically possible to finance
a restoration project, but the problem
here is that because it's not a flying air
plane and there's a chance it might
never be finished, banks aren't that
crazy about using it for collateral, so
they'll insist something else be used to
secure the loan, probably your house.
A project, however, once the initial
purchase is made, can be scheduled to
proceed at the rate the money is com
ing in, so it can get by without having
to be financed. Plus, you can schedule
it so the big hits, like rebuilding the en
gine, can be put off until the end.
Another approach is to take out
a line of credit on your house; then,
when the airplane is finished, get a loan
on the airplane to pay back the house
note. In that situation the interest is
deductible. This, of course, puts your
house at risk; however, there's noth
ing like the fear of losing your house to
make sure you finish the airplane.

Project Orientation
A major personality trait that has
to be closely evaluated is what we'll
call project orientation: When we get
started on something, do we have the
kind of mindset that lets us keep plug
ging along even though, in some cases,
we're talking years? Some folks just
don't have that kind of brain. They
keep looking too far down the line,
hoping they'll see the finished product
on the horizon, and when they don't,
they realize how much further they
have to go and get discouraged. Project
orientation means that when you get
into something like an airplane resto
ration project, several things happen:
Each part is a project in itself. The
piece you're working on at that mo
ment is the project, and you seldom
think in terms of the entire airplane.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

17

it was restored. The prop was freshened

up and the spinner replaced along with
the tires.
The asking price for the airplane
is $52,500, but the owner will take
$49,500. Let's call it $50,000.
You do one piece at a time, and when
there are no more pieces to work on,
you must be done.
It Is touched every single day. You
may not physically work on it every
day, but it's always in your mind, and
you'll be ordering parts, doodling solu
tions while on the phone, etc.
Work sessions are goal-orlented. You
walk into the shop with a specific goal
in mind. For example, such and such
a part will be finished before you walk
out the door.
Shop time Is scheduled. A certain
part of each week is reserved to work
on the airplane, and everyone around
you knows that. You don't view it as a
project that will be worked on "when
I feel like it and the time is available."
You make that time available, and af
ter dinner you literally force yourself
out of the TV chair and into the shop.
After a hard day at work, that one step,
forcing yourself to leave the comfort of
an easy chair, is the hardest part of any
project. However, once you've stepped
into the shop, the energy takes over
and you wonder why you had to work
so hard to get your butt out of the chair
in the first place.

Skills Required
We purposely left skill as the last per
sonal trait to be evaluated because it's
essentially unimportant. There is noth
ing in restoring an airplane that can't
be learned by anyone. Besides, since
you're working on a certificated air
plane, all of your work has to be over
seen and checked out by a certificated
airframe and powerplant mechanic, so
you're not likely to have something in
the airplane that isn't safe.
As for the skills, there are so many
learning aids available that address ev
erything from welding to fabric to sheet
metal that you don't even need to know
which end of a screwdriver to hang on
to, and you can still learn the skills re
18

SEPTEMBER 2005

quired. This isn't brain surgery, folks. Of

course, if you're handy with your hands
and have a long history of building me
chanical stuff, life will be easier.

Can It Be Restored Cheaper

Than It Can Be Bought?
Buy or restore is the big question,
and, of course, there are about a billion
factors to be considered, but we'll put
together an analysis on a mythical air
plane of the square-tail Cessna variety.

111e Buy Option:

111e Ready-to-F1y, Recently
Restored 1957 Cessna 172
The airplane was restored less than
two years ago and was a middle-of-the
road, nice restoration aimed mostly
at making it totally reliable and cos
metically pleasing rather than a show
winner, but it was still done right. It
wasn't totally disassembled, but it was
stripped and painted and the entire
structure cleaned inside and out. It was
painted with an aircraft urethane by a
known aircraft paint shop.
The hardware (pulleys, cables, bolts,
etc.) wasn't replaced en masse, but was
done on an IRAN (inspect and replace
as necessary) basis. All of the glass was
replaced at the time. The instrument
panel overlay was repaired and some of
the plastic interior side panels replaced.
The complete interior was replaced with
an AirTex unit, and all exterior screws
and bolts were replaced with new stain
less. The instruments were partially re
built and are all working, and the avi
onics are limited to a King KX-155 nav/
comm and a low-end transponder.
When it was restored, the engine,
an 0-300 Continental, had about
900 hours on it since major overhaul,
which was done nearly 15 years before,
but it was top overhauled using Supe
rior jugs. The exhaust and heater sys
tem were overhauled at the same time.
The airplane has flown 125 hours since

Our Project Airplane

The airplane, again a 1957 Cessna
172, has been sitting tied down at a
southwestern airport for more than 18
years. It has no corrosion and, in fact,
has pretty straight metal. The sun has
done its usual thing with the interior
(it's hanging in shards), and the Plexi
glas is really ugly (you can actually see
through some of it). The paint, which
consists of at least three layers, the last
looking like it was applied with a roller,
is as you'd expect, nothing more than
colored dust stuck to the metal. We
paid $17,500 for it, where is, as is.
There is some minor damage to a
wingtip area where a storm tipped it
up on the wingtip. Other than that, we
can't see any other damage.
When it was parked, the engine was
fairly low time, about 450 hours, but
even in that dry area, the engine is a
huge question mark. The instruments
all look baked , and it's unknown
whether any of them are usable or not.
The overlay panel is missing, while
the interior side panels are cracked but
intact. Tires are black, flat-bottomed
lumps; most of the Fiberglas (wingtips,
elevator tips, etc.) is cracked; and the
screw hole areas are flaking.
The radio stack is pretty sad: Mk.
12 Narco nav/comms and an ARC
Cessna DME.
We talked seriously about getting
it ferriable and flying it the 500 miles
home, but chickened out. Besides, we
reasoned, assuming the dry air pro
tected the engine's internals, there
may be some good parts, and run
ning the engine could cycle rust and
silicon crude through it, ruining what
good parts there are. So, we rented a
car trailer and small Penske truck and
came down to take it apart and truck it
home. It took a total of three days and
two nights; only half of one day was re
quired to get it apart and on the trailer:
we're good! We also came prepared

with lots of moving blankets, ratchet

straps, and used tires to sit things on.
Here's a list of what the airplane
needs and what we decide to do about
it. Our goal is to be as original as we
can without going overboard. Also, it's
to be an airplane we use a lot for family
vacations, not a "Judge Me" special.
Engine. Rather than doing a complete overhaul, we tear it down and
find it has a lot of good parts that don't
need overhauling and still meet new
limits, The jugs, however, have surface
rust and one is cracked, so we have
them all overhauled rather than going
with new ones, We split the case and
do an IRAN on everything. We go for
a Slick mag conversion and new wiring
harness. We also change the pull-type
starter to a B & C key starter. We have
the work done by a local shop and get
a good price.
Airframe. It's super dirty inside and
out, SO we strip it down to the bare aluminum and replace all the cables, nuts
bolts, etc. because so many have rust on
them, We can't do sheet metal work, so
we have the wingtip repaired and some
cracks on the nosebowl repaired. We
strip the paint ourselves, disassemble
it, and mask it for painting, but have
a local automotive paint shop do the
final coats. We assist by racking up all
the small parts for painting and trying
to make it so all the painter has to do is
blow the paint. We also repair all the Fiberglas parts ourselves and rebuild the
brake assemblies and master cylinders,
Interior. We install an Airtex interior
ourselves, including carpets, and go for
a replacement panel overlay.
Instrument panel. We scrounge
around and find used/rebuilt replacements for about half the instruments
and send the rest out for overhaul. We
spend a lot of time doing interior detail
paint work on small interior parts and
have the local auto paint store make
US some spray cans that exactly match
the color of the original plastic parts,
SO we can use Fiberglas to repair the
plastic and paint them ourselves.
Avionics. We install a King KX-97

comm and a low-end transp onder

and purchase a handheld GPS that we
mount on the control yoke.

Figuring the Costs

First of all, one of the biggest re aliti es of a proj ect like this is that
no matter how you fi gure it, the total you come up with is going to be
wrong. Sometimes very wrong. A lot
of guys just doubl e their estimates
and are still usually wrong. This is
not encouragin g. However, below
you' ll find a qui ck spreadsheet that
can at least give yo u a guide, If you
download thi s Exce l spreadsheet
from www.vintageaircraft.org, you'll be
able to play "what if" ga mes to your
heart's content. Th e blue numbers
are the ones yo u can change, and
the final cost will roll out on the bot
tom, Leave everything else alone. If you
screw it up, just download it again.
The numbers we've put in the dif
ferent areas are our best-guess esti
mates, but as you get actual quotes on
things like cylinders or engine rebuilding, you can plug them in and make
the final total more accurate,
The most important thing to come
out of the spreadsheet is that it's obvi
ous that it's going to take some luck
and a lot of elbow grease to restore an
airplane as cheaply as you can buy it.
Too often the seller of any restored airplane is taking a hit on what he has in
vested, and his loss becomes the pur
chaser's gain, This is especially true if
any of the major work (engine, pain t,
etc.) is farmed out. Th e minute you
have a pro do an entire section of the
restoration, you've just driven the price
above what you can sell it for. It's an
ugly truth, but still a truth.
On the other hand, there's only one
way to make an airplan e truly yours,
and we don't n eed to tell you that is
by liberal injections of your personal
sweat. It may not be the smartest thing
to do finanCially, but simply writing a
check can't possibly give the same personal satisfaction as being able to say,
"I did it myself."

Plug in your own numbers in this Excel spreadsheet. Download it

at www.vlntagealrcraft.org

SAMPlE PROJECT-19S7 CESSNA 172

I.oweot
S17,500

Expected
$17,500

IIf&hest

Purchase $$
Transport
Truck rental w/ mileage
$/ day
No. of days
Fuel costs
S/gal
mpg
miles
Trailer rental
Motel
S/ night
No. of nights
Food
S/ day
No. of days
Transportation subtotal

S225
$75
3
S200
S2.4
12
1,000
$100
S255
$85
3
S90
S30
3
$920.00

S225

$225

S200

S200

$150
S255

$225
$255

S90

$90

$0

SO

$0

S800
S250
S350
S4,SOO
S125
S200
S500
S300
Sl,200

S900
$300
$450
$6,000
$200
$350
$750
$400
$1,500

$1.100
$350
S550
SS,OOO
S250
$450
$1,000
$500
$1,800

Labor
Engine subtotal-expeeted

$1,000
S12,35O.00

$1.500

$1,800

Prop overhaul (fixed pitch)

(constant speed)

S500
n/ a

$750
n/ a

S1.000
n/ a

$175
S600
$0
SO
SO
$1,700
S225
S175
S200
SO
S300
$150
$175
$150
$0.00

S225

Component

Engine
Complete overhaul
Parts
mags
harness
starter
cylinder assemblies
plugs
hoses
Misc.
Alternator
Induction/ cam rebuild
misc.
misc.
misc.
misc.

S17,500

Airframe

Stnpping chemicals
$125
$400
Sheet metal labor
Sand blasting
SO
Welding/tube repair
SO
$0
FaMc/ covering matenals
$1,400
Cables, pulleys, bolts
Fiberglas matenals
S150
Brake repair, pads, hoses,CHIngs S125
S175
Tires/tubes
Tailwheel rebuild/replace
SO
Windshield
S250
Side Windows
$100
Masking tape , etc
$125
$0
Transport to paint shop
Misc,
$0.00
Misc
so
Misc
so
Paint Cost (three colors), pnmer S550
Paint labor, spray on~ (est.)
S350
Complete paint
SO
Airframe subtotal-expeeted
$5,250.00

$800

$0
$S50
S550
SO

SO
SO
SO
S2,OOO
S250
S200
S250
$0
$350
$200
$225
S225
SO.OO
$0
$0
$1,000
$700
SO

Interior (aftermarket kits)

$900
Seats
Side panels
S600
$290
Headliner
Carpet
$275
Interior total-expeeted
S2,205.00

S950
S625
S310
S320

$1 ,100
$750
$450
$425

Instrument panel
Instrument replacement
Instrument overhaul
Ovenay panel
Misc. panels
Seat belts
Misc.
Unknown
Panel subtotal-expeeted

S600
$300
S250
SO
S500
$500
SO.OO
$4,150

Sl,800
$1,100
$350
$300
$600
S700
SO.OO

S3,500
$2,200

Avionics
Radios (comm only)
Nav units (handheld GPS)
Navcom
Transponder
Intercom
Unknown
Miscellaneous
Avionics subtotal-expected

S800
S400
$0
$1,350
$350
$0
$400
$4,250

Sl,OOO
S650
$0
$1,500
S500
$0
S600

$1,700
$900
$0
$1,900
S7,509
$0
S750

TOTALCO$T$

Lowest
S39,660

Expected
$48,075

Highest
S65,354

so

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

$400

S450
S700
$900
$0.00

19

:E
::;)

UJ
<J)
::;)

:E
UJ

~ii'

UJ

J:
Z

~
~
~
<J)

~~-~-~-~------------~ ~

THE FORGOTTEN

PERFORMERS

Part II: NC251M is resurrected

VIC PIKE

With its left wing and float torn off

in a 1963 takeoff accident, it seemed
to be the end of the airway for Bel
lanca Pacemaker NC251M. It didn't
end that way, as this month's install
ment by Vic Pike shows us a good
airplane is rarely down forever.
In 1964 John Pike (EAA 711429,
VAA 715987) entered the life of
NC251M, despite the appearance
that it had been extinguished. Now,
John is an airplane man: private pi
lot, CFI-II, single-engine seaplane,
everything through ATP, A&P, AI,
and type rated in Citations and
Hawker 125s. For a livelihood, he is
the proprietor of Big Sky Stearman
Wings and, in that capacity, scratch
builds new Stearman wings. In ad
dition, he restores antique aircraft
with a focus on Stearmans from
stock to custom 450s.
Currently, he is completing the
woodwork on the one and only
Fairchild 46 . This plane was con
structed in 1937 as a fast (220
mph) six-place, low-wing mono
plane powered by a 420-hp Ranger
inverted V-12. The Ranger engine
did not live up to expectations and
20

SEPTEMBER 2005

was replaced with a P&W R-985.

The Fairchild's fuselage is wooden
monocoque, similar in construction
to the Lockheed Vega. The method
was proposed as proof of the "Du
ramold" process and as a labor- and
cost-saving practice to avoid driv
ing hundreds of thousands of riv
ets; unfortunately, it turned out to
be more expensive, which explains
why only one was built.
The 46 was first flown by test
pilot Dave Lewis, who was so im
pressed he purchased it from Fairch
ild. It was sold after several years
and passed through many owners,
finally being left in the weather un
til the woodwork was in shambles.
Lewis rediscovered it in that con
dition, repurchased the relic, and
sold it to John.
On the middle burner for John
is a one-off sport plane that began
as a Stearman fuselage. It's on the
gear, and there's a Pratt & Whit
ney R-1340 up front. For a cowling,
John searched through his stash of
trade goods and came up with one
from a Ford Tri-Motor! If you want
to soak up airplane ambience, go to

John's establishment.
At birth, John was destined to
fly. His father, Claude, a minister,
built a glider as a boy and began
powered flight in a J-3 Cub that he
discovered in 1954, dismantled in
a hangar at the McMinnville, Ore
gon, airport. The owner was willing
to part with the Cub but mentioned
that rather than money, he really
wanted a small car-top boat. Claude
said, "You'll have your boat!" Able
to build anything, Claude took $35
worth of plywood and after a few
days returned with a boat and ex
changed it for the J-3.
Claude assembled the Piper and
was so eager to get aloft, he began
to fly from a nearby pasture with
out official sanction. When the
CAA (FAA) learned of this, pilot
and plane were grounded for a year.
Once the Cub was airborne legally,
John became a capable co-pilot and
was soon boring dependable holes
in the sky as a lO-year-old.
The Cub remains in the family
but is now on floats, with a C-85/
0-200 on the nose. Typical of most
plane kids, John soloed on his 16th

Lead Photo: NC251M decorated with the

Alaska Air1ines logo, hauled up on shore
at Lake Hood in about 1946. H it was in
that year, that would have been a brand
new Aeronca Champ parked behind it.

birthday and earned his private on

his 17th in the family's newly ac
quired Stinson 108-I.
In the spring of 1964, John was
flying low and slow over the Willa
mette Valley in standard Cub fash
ion when, voila! That looks like air
p lane stuff down there. Circling
around, he landed on a conven ient
grass strip and confirmed that at
some time, the pile had been an
airplane . CuriOUS, he went to t h e
house and learned from Helen
Poet the story of the Pacemaker's
remains. Intrigued, John returned
later with his father, and ultimately,
they bought everything for $150.
At that time, the Pikes' intention
was to keep the parts as a memento,
a piece of history, a novelty. But
Chuck Rawson, the airframe and en
gine mechanic from Mulino airport
where John was instructing, came
to see the wreckage and, after scru
tinizing it for some time, said, "You
guys should rebuild that and fly it."
Hmm. The spark was kindled.
How do you make a flying air
plane out of a twisted tangle of steel
tubes and a collection of splintered
wood? Well, you start by eliminat
ing everything that could never fly
and try not to be discouraged with
how little is left.
The aft fuselage was determined
to be one of the earthbound parts,
and it was discarded. John corre
sponded with August Bellanca, Gi
useppe's son, and received some as
Sistance, but on the ground, he took
a more pragmatic approach. In Se
attle, there existed another Bellanca
Pacemaker, NC26E, intact but not
airworthy, that was owned by Lloyd
Rekow. Lloyd, like Clayton Scott
(the two are friends), ran an aircraft
modification business, Foreign and
Domestic Enterprises, on nearby
Boeing Field and is well known in
the Grumman Goose community
for his improvements to that type .

NC251M on the Columbia River.

Bellanca Pacemaker, NC251M, on the Oregon Coast.

John made arrangements to visit

the Pacemaker and calculated tube
placement and dimensions by tap
ing butcher paper to the fuselage
and tracing the positions.
John and his father then re
paired the right wing and, essen
tially, scratch-built a new left one.
Because Bellanca Pacemaker land
ing gear isn't generally carried
even by Aircraft Spruce or Uni
vair, Claude whittled it from BT-13
stock and fitted tundra tires. Then
came construction of new seats,
a new panel, complete covering,
paint, glass, and the untold other
details involved in a reconstruc
tion of this magnitude, including
the fabrication of dual controls .
Next came a run-out P&W R-985
from a duster, and it was over
hauled with help from A&P-IA Cliff
Krum, neighbor and good friend

of George Bogardus, the promi

nent "Oregon outlaw" who illegally
flew his homebuilt to Wash ington,
D.C., after World War II in an effort
to prove the viability of amateur
built aircraft. After 15 years of part
time but tedious hard labor, the old
bird was looking more an d more
like something that could return to
the skies.
Bellanca Pacemaker, Seria l No.
154, experienced a rebirth on sunny
April 27, 1980, when Jo hn , w ith
no previous dual in type, took off
from the Pikes' private grass st rip
near Oregon City, witnessed by a
large group of family members and
other airplane enthusiasts (incl ud
ing me, EAA 180885, VAA 10444) .
Everyone applauded, but the ap
plause was overwhe lmed by the
conspicuous rumble of the Pratt &
Whitney Wasp Jr.
VINTAGE A IRPLANE

21

Day. Harry had two connec

tions in this story. First, he
did the rib stitching on the
wings when the p lane was
reb u ilt by Bob Bohanan in
1961, and second, as John
Pike earned his A&P at Port
land Community College ,
Harry was head of the air
craft program. Harry took a
ride in the Pacemaker.
But more was to come. In
the mid 1940s when NC251M
was flying nonscheduled
for Alaska Airlines, the logs
showed that acclaimed bush
pilot Frank Barr frequently
flew it. Frank came to Alaska
as a 29-year-old aviator in
1932 and spent the next 16
years as an itinerant flier of
the old school; he never be
came IFR rated, although he
made frequent flights u n
Frank Barr (left), John Pike in the cockpit, and der IFR conditions. For five
his brother Ted (right).
years, he flew the week ly
l,200-mile Kuskokwim River
Two of th e participants that
mail run for legendary pio
da y were fellow antique airplane neer pilot Harold Gillam .
In 1980, Frank was retired and
restorers Stu Mitzel and his son/
partner, Mark. They flew in with living in Grants Pass, Oregon. John
an equally impressive restoration, contacted him with an invitation
a Travel Air 4000 powered with a to attend t he celebration, and he
Wright 450-hp R-9 75-30.
accepted. After Frank had been
Another pe rson in attendance around the patch in the Bellanca,
was an A&P by the name of Harry an attentive audience gathered un
22

SEPTEMBER 2005

der the wings to hear of

his experiences, which
included the Alaska
method for loading
freight in a Pacemaker.
The preliminary task
was to crank down the
pilot's-side window .
Then you piled in the
payload, starting at the
right-side firewall. Items
were stacked to above
t he windscreen and
then at ceiling height
clear back to the rear
bulkhead. Loading con
tinu ed until you either
ran out of cargo or there
was no more room, with
only casual thought
to weight and balance . Then you
crawled into the cockpit through
the open window and took off.
Frank said he damaged the Pace
maker only one time. He was sent
on a rush trip to a hillside landing
strip new ly built to serve a min e.
He neglected to drag the site before
landing and realized on a short,
straight-in final that it sported a sig
nificant down slope. He flared and
flared and flared, but the ground de
scended as rapidly as the plane did.
With trees ahead and no opportu
nity for a go-around, he slammed
it on and ploughed into the brush,
bending the prop. Considering his
job security, he was relieved when
the company wrote it up as an acci
dent, but Frank said, "Being stupid
is no accident."
What a day April 27 was! The
Pacemaker, the Travel Air 4000, and
Frank Barr. Three icons in one after
noon was almost too much.
In 1980, John, his father, and his
brother, Ted, flew the Pacemaker
to Washington, D.C., Dallas, Texas,
and then back to Oregon in sup
port of the National Day of Prayer.
In 1981, John constructed a belly
pod and painted the Bellanca as
Miss Veedol and was center stage in
Wenatchee for the 50th anniversary
of Pangborn and Herndon's record
breaking flight from Japan in 1931.

In 1990, John purchased from

Clayton Scott, after four hours of dual instruction, soloed a Waco 9 three
Kenmore Air a pair of damaged Edo
months before Lindbergh made his flight to Paris. He was station manager for
6470 floats that had originally been
on a Noorduyn Norseman. They
Vern Corst's Pacific Air Transport (first airmail service from Seattle to los Ange
were stored in Kenmore's yard when
les, March 8, 1926) at Pearson Field in Vancouver, Washington, before Portland's
a drunk driver came off th e hill,
Swan Island Airport opened. In 1928, he was a pilot for Seattle Flying Service, sit
smashed through the cyclone fence,
uated at the old "sand lot" on Marginal Way. Then it was Corst Air Transport and
and crumpled them. Supplied with
aluminum sheet and a barrel of riv
Seattle-Bremerton Air Ferry, where he won a new Oldsmobile for flying a record
ets, John rebuilt them and, consider
number of passengers to and from the U.S. naval base.
ing their gargantuan size, mounted
In 1929, he flew a loening amphibian from New York to Seattle in 19 hours and
the plane on the floats (rather than
35 minutes and then spent the next two years in Alaska flying the loening and a
the floats on the plane).
What is it like to fly a 75-year
Boeing 204 A flying boat, where he was a colleague of Shutte and Kay. In the fall of
old Bellanca Pacemaker? For start
1933, he began flying Boeing 247s from Portland to Salt lake for United Airlines,
ers, John notes the plane is nose
and in 1934 he became Bill Boeing's personal pilot, flying him all over Alaska in
heavy, and in fact, it is placarded
Boeing's 204 and a Douglas Dolphin.
for the single passenger to sit in the
rear seat in wheel configuration and
later came a rare Douglas DC-5 (high-winged and tricycle-geared) that kept
for 100 pounds of ballast in the bag
Boeing in touch with his traveling racehorses. In 1941, Clayton became a produc
gage compartment when solo on
tion test pilot for Boeing and flew everything in its inventory up through 727s. He
floats. Perhaps a contributing fac
has flown more B-l7s than any other person.
tor to this balance is that the P&W
R-985 is 103 pounds heavier than
Clayton Scott retired in 1966. Retired? Not a chance; he just moved full time to
the original Wright J-6-9. This re
his previously established Jobmaster Co., where float installations are engineered
quires an inordinate nose-high at
and certificated for a wide variety of planes, including Piper Aztecs and Cessna
titude at touchdown, which virtu
195s. He also built a replica of Bill Boeing's first airplane, the B&W (Boeing &
ally precludes a greased-on landing
even by John, who can three-point a
Westervelt), which is now in the Museum of Flight in Seattle. Oh yes, he casually
C-180 with never a quiver. He refers
acknowledges that for a number of years he owned the type certificate for the
to Pacemaker landings as "arrivals."
Howard DCA-IS, which he recently sold to the Howard Foundation.
Stick forces are high. There are
This remarkable pilot, engineer, mechanic, and entrepreneur has been continuo
no flaps, and the stall occurs at 55
mph. John flies 80 mph on final
ously employed in the aircraft industry for 77 years and, with all of his ratings in
and 70 over the fence. He reports
tact, regularly flies his Cessna 195 on floats.
there is a delicate balance between
I asked Clayton what airplane was the most gratifying to fly, and without hesita
sink and float, and a little power
tion,
he said, "The B-52. Lightly loaded and with a minimum of fuel, we would take
on final renders a more consistent
glidepath. With the nose high, a
off from Seattle and arc over the Cascade Mountains to land at Moses lake Air
slip is mandatory for visibility. A
Force Base and deliver them to the military." The twinkle in his eye underscored
locking tail wheel contributes to a
the delight of those flights.
straight rollout.
The Pacemaker's load-carrying
capability is legendary, and Alan wildly optimistic.
thunders right below the window,
Hauan from Wilderness Airlines
Despite its idiosyncrasies on and the sights, sounds, smells, and
states that NC251M could routinely wheels, the Pacemaker on floats is vibrations that assault the senses,
outhaul a Beaver. This is reflected another story. In this configuration, combined with sitting in the soul
in a ground run with medium load John describes it as "a big, gentle of this historic airplane, make it
being a tidy 600 feet. Landing roll is J-3." The Edo 6470s are a bit over difficult to decide whether you'll
1,200 to 1,500 feet. Empty weight is size, and in crosswinds, the plane grin or cry.
2,900 pounds, and gross is 4,880.
tends to skate sideways.
For 21 years, John flew the Bel
In addition to the facts and fig lanca. In the fall of 2000, another to
Takeoff is at 2,350 rpm with
37 inches of manifold pressure. ures, for someone who stands in tal refurbish was in order. After a com
Cruise is 1,850 rpm, 28 inches, 110 reverence of 1920s and '30s air plete disassembly, he built two com
mph, and 25 gph. The factory pub craft, flying in the Pacemaker is an pletely new wings but then discov
lished the top speed as 160 mph at awesome experience. As it comes ered terminal corrosion in the original
10,000 feet, which John considers on the step, the big R-985 exhaust cabin section of the fuselage. .......
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

23

A beautiful day is not complete unless it is seen from

the inside of a cockpit. The Vintage Aircraft Association
is providing you with the opportunity to bring the magic
of flight to your home, office, or hangar. Take flight with
the 2006 VAA Calendar, Free Skies Forever!
The gorgeous 17 x 11-inch full-color wall calendar is the
perfect gift for yourself or your favorite pilot. Each month
contains the amazing photography from the Vintage
Aircraft Association and captures the spirit of flight.
As a commemoration to the great aviators before us, the
VAA 2006 Calendar Free Skies Forever contains great
feats in aviation printed on the exact date of occurrence.
Don't let this opportunity fly past you. Order your 2006
VAA Free Skies Forever Calendar by September 30,
2005. Calendars will ship in November for Christmas
arrival.
Or to order by mail, send your check/ money order to:
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o Please enter my order for __ copies of the Vintage

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BY

H.G. FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE tOMES TO US FROM THE EAA LIBRARY'S

GARNER P. EMMERSON COLLECTION. WE'VE GOT A NUMBER OF PHOTOS

IN THAT ALBUM THAT MAKE GREAT MYSTERY PLANES.

Send your answer to EAA,

Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086,

Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your

answer needs to be in no later
than October 10 for inclusion
in the December 2005 issue of
Vintage Airplane.
You can also send your
response via e-mail. Send your
answer to mysteryplane@eaa.
org. Be sure to include your
name, city, and state in the
body of yo ur note, and put
(Mon th) Mystery Plane" in
the subject line.
1/

JUNE ' S

MYSTERY

ANSWER

(It is.-Ed.), then it's not a Curtiss. An

drade lists 5256 as a 1917 Alexandria
10 flying boat trainer (serials A-5247 to
A-5256). It gives no other data. II

The June Mystery Plane, also from

the Emerson Collection, elicited only
a pair of letters, the first from Wayne
Van Valkenburgh, who thought it
might be an Aeromarine Model 40F,
and the second from Thomas Lym
burn, Princeton, Minnesota. At first

Thomas thought it might be the Cur

tiss F flying boat, but not everything
matched. Here's what he wrote:
"So, let's check John Andrade's U.S.
Military Aircraft Designations and Se
rials Since 1909. Hmm ... if the num
ber on the side in your photo is 5256

According to the penned caption

included in the Emerson album, it is
indeed an Alexandria. A second, closer
photograph of the seaplane is shown
on this page. Th e man standing in
the cockpit is Garner Emerson 's fa
ther, Edwin B. Emerson. The Alexan
dria Airplane Co. built other designs
under license, including the Briggs F
flying boat (serial A3327, for exam
ple), but we have no other informa
tion on the company or the Mystery
Plane itself. It's possible that Thomas'
and Wayne's guesses as to the origin
of the Alexandria 10's design may be
correct, and the airplane is actually a
modified license-built example of one
of the Curtiss Fs, with a Httle Aeroma
rine added to the mix. Any additional
information would be welcome ........
VINTAGE AIRPLANE

25

E. E. " BU CK" HI LBER T

Prop'er Behavior

Buck's 1990 column on propping is

simply timeless. Unfortunately, on a reg
ular basis we still hear ofpropping acci
dents that occur. During EAA AirVenture
Oshkosh 2005, thanks to the generosity
ofAUA Inc., we ran a twice-daily seminar
on the proper technique to use when prop
ping an airplane. We'll show you more
on that in the October issue. For now,
let's all get a refresher from Buck on the
"gotchas" that are out there when you're
starting your vintage airplane. -HGF
During the summer of 1940 when I
was a line boy at the old Elmhurst Air
port west of Chicago, we were running
in a newly overhauled engine. In those
days, there was a regular schedule for
break-in after the overhaul was com
pleted. We ran them up at half-hour
intervals at increasing rpm until finally,
after about four hours, we brought
them up to takeoff power. Only then
was it allowed to fly. Quite a difference
as compared with today. Nowadays,
you just put the power to it and fly at
full throttle for the first hour.
Anyway, there sits the Cub with the
stick tied back and the engine run
ning at about 1,000 rpm, unattended,
doing its own break-in. I hasten to
add that this airplane did not belong
to us. Harbicon Airways would never
do a thing like that! (Now, I'll tell you
about a certain bridge you can buy.)
Well, this fellow is posing his
girlfriend alongside our Porterfield
PL-SO. He has her standing by the
door, liquidly draped around the
wing strut, and he's trying to get her
into the frame of that little camera.
Some of you remember those box
cameras with the neat viewfinder
on the top. The trick was to put the
subject squarely in the frame. It re
26

SEPTEMBER 2005

quired stooping over and shading the

viewfinder with one hand while you
backed up for the focal length. You
guessed it! With all of us shoutin' and
hollerin' he got a rapid l,OOO-rpm
spanking! He never got the picture,
but I'll never forget that moment. We
all had a good laugh about it later,
but "Spanky" never lived it down.
For years afterward he would drop his
pants to show people the result of his
encounter. It didn't read Sensenich or
Flottorp either.
I propped many airplanes as the
years went by and made a study of
propping. Some engines were easy;
some were downright recalcitrant.
The easiest of the lot are the Kinners
and R-98Ss such as on a BT-13. The
Kinner will start every time with those
Bendix mags throwin' a spark an inch
and a half. You don't really prop the
Kinner; you just gingerly pull it past
compression and get the heck out of
the way. I've had them back up on me
and catch from the wrong way when
they're too lean, but they'll go on the
next pull. Again, it takes extreme care
to be absolutely sure it isn't "hot."
We were standing in the hangar
one day working on a Ryan STA, and
a good friend of mine was supervis
ing (like any good sidewalk superin
tendent). He was leaning up against
the prop of my PT-22, but it wasn't
quite comfortable enough for him,
so he went to repOSition the prop. He
turned it about 30 degrees, the im
pulse snapped, and there was Carl
stretched to his full height, his back
against the STA's tail, with my PT-22's
90-inch prop whisking his fly. Fortu
nately, it only hit about four cylin
ders and then quit. Wow! I was up in

that cockpit and checking before Carl

could even let out the breath he had
been holding to make himself that
skinny. The switch was at idle cutoff
and the fuel was off. It turned out the
airport owner's kids had been play
ing in the cockpit and fooling around
with the switches. The kid I think was
responsible is now an aerobatic show
pilot. He still likes to fool around.
A year or so after this one, I was
alone out front of the hangar at the
same airport and I was going to take
my two youngest kids for a ride in our
Champ. I'd just gassed up and added
a quart of oil and was ready to avi
ate. There wasn't anyone else within
close range, so I elected to prop it my
self. I had the two kids side-by-side on
cushions in the back seat under one
belt. I put my right foot in front of
the right tire and propped it seaplane
style from behind. It was between the
prop and the door. Just as I snapped it
through, I heard my daughter say, "I'll
help you, Daddy," and she shoved the
throttle forward. It caught, of course,
and there I was in a helluva predica
ment. My right foot was the chock,
the door won't let me get to the throt
tle or the switch, and the engine is
turnin' about 1,700 rpm. I'm dancing
around in a circle, trying desperately
not to lose it! If I pull my foot out
from in front of the wheel it'll go for
sure. I can't get around the door and
under the strut, I can't grab and stop
the prop at 1,700 rpm without chop
ping my arm off, and I'm literally
helpless. About the second I'm ready
to give up and let it happen, the front
door of the office bursts open and one
of the guys comes running out to cut
the switch. I would have kissed him

if I had the strength, but all I could

do was sit down and mumble my
thanks-over and over again.
Shortly after this one, I was at the
old Chicagoland Airport one day
when a friend of mine who owned a
T-6 had an experience. He was parked
between two rows of airplanes and
decided to prop the "Six." The battery
had died long ago and, like most of
us in the 1960s, he couldn't afford to
buy a new one. He had been propping
the plane for years, so it should have
been no problem. This time, though,
th rough a mismanaged mess-up, it
started and went to 1,600 to 1,700
rpm like right NOW! Normally an
R-985 or 1340 will fire, mutter, spang,
and gradually accelerate to idle so
slowly you can leisurely walk around
the wing, crawl up to the cockpit,
and still have time for a Coke and a
sandwich before it finally clears its
throat. Not this time. It tore down the
line and went through two airplanes
before it wrapped itself up in one of
those cast-iron Navions. Paul himself

had quite a problem there. You can

imagine how much insurance he had,
since he couldn't even afford to buy
a battery. It took him several years to
payoff the damages to the other air
planes, and he trucked his T-6 h ome,
where it sat until he died.
Same airport, same scene- almost
the same tiedown. The STA had been
flying for about four years. Our trusty
Red Ba loney is go ing t o t ake h is
niece up for a ride. There was n o one
around, so he put her in the front seat,
set up the engine controls, told her to
hold the brakes, and started pulling
through the prop. About four blades
and away it went. It spurted right up
to about 1,700 rpm . He dropped to
the ground as the airplane rumbled
over him, and he grabbed one of the
flying wires under the wing as it went
by. With him hanging on for dear life,
the Ryan did two 360s between the
parked pla nes. He was h ollerin ' fo r
his niece to turn it OFF, but she mis
understood and furth er complicated
matters by jumping out and getting

knocked down by the tail as it swung

by. About this time the engine quit be
cause he did something right. He had
turned off the fuel as I'd taught him
to do wh en he propped it himself.
Niece was bruised, but the airplane
and everyone else was okay-so what
caused the problem? He looked under
the cowl, and there was the fractured
end of the throttle push-pull rod! It
broke from corrosion and wear right
at the firewall. Lesson? You betcha!
Next time, we tie the tail.
We are learning! One day I propped
Bob Heuer's Pitts when I saw him all
alone. Then he asked me to untie the
tail. A couple of months later I no
ticed that Bob Davis, another aero
batic pilot, had a tow hitch on his
Pitts-Smith. What's he doing with a
tow hitch ? Simple. He sez, "I can prop
it myself, and then after I get in and
all suited up and ready to go, I just
pull the release and I'm free ." Lesson,
there are some real practical people in
the world.
~// l
Over to you.
c.!!./IAC/G

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE

27

DOUG STEWART

Try it ... you'll like it!

The takeoff on this formation flight was going to be

with a slight tailwind, but the downhill slope of the grass
runway would compensate a little bit. We were taking
off with the tailwind primarily because of the increased
options we would have, going in this direction, in case
anything went wrong. Going the other way meant clear
ing trees at the end of the runway, and then nothing but
a busy highway beyond the trees. As long as the wind
didn't increase, there should be no problems.
I was surprised at how quickly we
were up off the bumpy runway, and
flying in ground effect, especialJy with
two of us on board. This time, rather
than sitting in the back as the instructor, I was sitting in front, and Tom
Decker was sitting in the back coaching me. It felt really refreshing to be
receiving instr~cti~n for a change,
rather than offenng It.
Because we had become airborne
before the Piper Pawnee in front of
us, we stayed in ground effect until
the Pawnee lifted off. We then flew
through the turbulence behind the
Pawnee and settled in for the climb,
staying exactly 200 feet behind it. Tom instructed me
to aim just a little below the Pawnee's tail. He told me
that if the Pawnee turned, I should aim the nose of my
aircraft toward the outer wingtip of the Pawnee.
A big smile was spreading across my face as I settled
in for the challenge. As the Pawnee banked into a turn
to leave the pattern, I realized I was going to h ave to
match his bank perfectly to stay in trail. If I banked
too steeply, I would cut inside his turn , and if too shal
low, I would fly outside of the Pawnee's arc. This didn't
present too much of a problem, but I found that I was
having trouble maintaining my vertical distance.
As the Pawnee hit some lift, I found I could antici
pate and thus maintain my relative vertical position.
But when the Pawnee encountered sink, I often found
myself flying right up into the prop wash and wake

turbulence of the lead airplane. Gosh, I hadn't had this

much fun in an airplane in a long time.
As we reached 2,500 AGL Tom told me to pull the
red knob in the center of the panel. uOh no, the big
red one!" I thought. As I pulled it, the towrope that
had been maintaining that perfect 200 feet between
the Pawnee and us shot forward toward the towplane.
I guess if you hadn't figured it out yet, I was on an
aerotow, in a glider. As that towrope appeared to shoot
forward, we banked to the right, and
the Pawnee executed a diving turn to
the left, to head down and tow yet another glider back up into the sky. Now
the fun was about to start in earnest!
This was not my first time in a

glider. My first glider flight had been

about 50 years ago. (In fact, that flight
had been the first time in my life that
there had been more than a few feet
between my posterior and the earth,

and to this day, I have not forgotten

it!) I also got to fly in the same glider
I was now flying about two years ago,
courtesy of the Valley Soaring Club,
based at the Randall Airport (06N) in
Middletown, New York (www.valleysoaring.org). It was a
1967 Schweizer 2-33 glider, one of the more common
training gliders in use today.
A client of mine, and now a good friend, Matt Blades,
is the VP of the club. We had first met when he came
to me to acquire his ASEL (airplane single-engine land)
rating. He then later came to me to get tailwheel tran
sition training in my PA-12. He had always given me a
standing offer to come to his club and experience the
exhilaration and joy of flying a glider. Thus, I found
myself eagerly headed to the Valley Soaring Club at
Randall, to pump some new excitement into my fly
ing experience.
I cannot recommend in strong enough terms my
feelings that every power pilot should spend some
time flying a glider. There are so many things to be re

I cannot

recommend in
strong enough
terms my feelIngs
that every power
pilot should
spend some tIme
flying a glider.

28

SEPTEMBER 2005

membered, relearned, or perhaps learned for the first

time when flying a glider.
To begin with, your feet are going to have to expe
rience a reincarnation if they have been sitting flat
on the floor of your spam can. Tailwheel-current pi
lots will not have as much difficulty, but even I found
that my feet did not work as well as they could have,
at first.
Gliders, with their much wider wingspan, have
much greater adverse yaw whenever they are banked.
If you are not prepared to compensate with sufficient
rudder whenever rolling into or out of a bank, you will
find the glider slipping through every turn. There is no
inclinometer (that's the ball in the turn coordinator)
to help you out, but there is a yaw string attached to
the pi tot tube in front of the windscreen. Unless you
know how to use your feet, when flying, you'll proba
bly find that yaw string resembling a windshield wiper
as you fly through your first few turns.
The next thing to be remembered and refined is
what it is like to fly in slow flight for extended periods
of time, not only in straight and level flight, but more
importantly, in turning flight. As we all know, one of
the best ways to maximize flight time in a glider is to
find some lift. Thermals (rising columns of air) are one
of the best sources of that lift. To make the most of a
thermal you have to fly a glider at a speed just slightly
above the stall. And since most thermals are rather
small in diameter, you need to constantly circle to stay
in the thermal. But that's not the only challenge of fly
ing a glider.
We all know that as bank increases, so does stall
speed. So here you are flying just above the stall, but to
remain in the thermal you need to bank. If you bank
too steeply, you'll quickly feel the first buffets of a stall,
and now you're no longer climbing in the lift. If you
don't bank steeply enough, you'll fly out of the lift.
And then you're no longer climbing. Plus if you don't
keep your turns coordinated, you'll find that slipping
turns will rob from the benefit of the thermal.
The last challenge that I have room to discuss rela
tive to flying gliders is the landing. I have said more
than once in this column that one of the least prac
ticed maneuvers in flying is the go-around. Well, in
gliders, you'll never get to practice that. Every landing
is a dead-stick, spot landing.
In gliders we have several fCm""Is-to help in that re
gard. Spoilers, dive brakes, and the good old forward
slip can all be used to aid us in putting the aircraft on
the ground exactly where we want it. Needless to say,
there is little room for error.
If your only flying experience has been in a Cherokee
or a Skyhawk, you'll have never really experienced a se
rious forward slip. Those of you used to a Cub, Champ,
or T-craft are more experienced in that technique, but
not to this extent. Because gliders have large rudders
to counter all the adverse yaw, these same rudders can

be used to get the glider almost perpendicular to the

centerline of the runway while on final approach. By
combining the slip with the use of the spoilers (on the
upper surface of the wing) and dive brakes (on the bot
tom of the wing), you can easily control the altitude.
Pitch controls the airspeed. And just like a powered
plane, you can fly final lion target. .. on speed" to a per
fect spot landing. All without any power!
There are many other challenges that flying glid
ers present-enough challenges to keep flying a glider
an exciting and enthralling endeavor for what I would
think could well be the rest of one's flying career. I am
not suggesting that you give up flying powered air
craft, but I am suggesting that you should try flying
a glider at least once or twice . Why, you could even
fulfill the requirements for a biennial flight review or
Wings program in one.
Regardless of your reason, I can guarantee that fly
ing a glider will teach you some new tricks and re
mind you of some you might have forgotten. It will
definitely put a smile on your face, and it won't disap
pear overnight. It's almost been a week since I flew that
glider, and I'm still glowing. In fact, I think I might
have to make the time to get my glider rating. Why
don't you try it? I think you'll like it.

Doug Stewart is the 2004 National CFI ofthe Year, a Master

Instructor, and a DPE. He operates DSFI Inc. (www.dsflight.
~
com) based at the Columbia County Airport (1Bl).
Ir======================================~-

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~~
~~

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

29

Jack Francis
Perry, UT

_ Started fiying in 1966

_ Enlisted in the US Air Force
in 1968
_ Bought 1946 Swift N3324K
in 1990s; currently has
over 250 hours in the Swift

"I had only owned my plane for three days, and had never flown it,
when we got a 125 mph wind that blew the hangar door in on the
plane. AUA paid the claim in full, and in record time!"

- Jack Francis

AUA's Exclusive EAA Vintage Aircraft Association Insurance Program lower liability and hull premiums
Medical payments included - FJeet discounts for multiple aircraft carrying all risk coverages - No ~and-propping exclusion
N o component part~ endorsements - Discounts for claim-free renewals carrying all risk coverages

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

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

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BABBITT BEARING SERVICE - rod
bearings, main bearings, bushings,
master rods , valves, piston rings.
Call us Toll Free 1-800-233-6934,
e-mail ramremfg@ao/.com Website
www.ramengine.com VI NTAG E
ENGINE MACHINE WORKS,
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99202
CUSTOM PRINTED T-SHIRTS for your
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samples. Call 1-800-645-7739 or 1
828-654-9711

THERE'S JUST NOTHING LIKE IT

ON THE WEB!!
www.aviation-giftshop.com
A Website with the Pilot in Mind
(and those who love airplanes)
Warner engines. Two 165s, one fresh
O.H., one low time on Fairchild 24
mount with all accessories. Al so
Helton Lark and Aeronca C-3 project.
Find my name and address in the
Officers and Directors listing and call
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For Sale - 1939 Spartan Executive,
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WE PROBABLY HAVE
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Visit www.flyingwires.com or call
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Wayne Forshey 614-476-9150
Ohio - statewide.

REGIONAL FLY-IN SCHEDULE

The following list ofcoming events is furnished to our readers as a matter ofinfor
mation only and does not constitute approval, sponsorship, involvement, control
or direction ofany event (fly-in, seminars, fly market, etc.) listed. To submit an
event, send the information via mail to: Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086, Os
hkosh, WI 54903-3086. Or e-mail the information to: vintageaircra(t@eaa.org.
In formation should be received fOllr months prior to the event date.
SEPTEMBER S-H-Galesburg, IL-Galesburg Municipal Airport.

34th Annual Stearman Fly-In. Techn ical seminars. Aircraft

judging and awards. Aerobatic, fo rmation, short-field
takeoff, spot-landing and flour bombing contests. Dawn
Patrol, lunch-time flyouts, pizza pa rty, stage show, banquet
and more. Info: 309-343-6409 o r stearman@stearmanflyin.
com or www. stearmanflyin. com
SEPTEMBER ll-Mt. Morris, IL-Ogle Co unty Airport (C55).
EAA Ch. 682 Fly-In Breakfast. 7am-12pm .
Info: 815-732-7268.
SEPTEMBER 16-17-Bartlesville, OK-Frank Phillips Field (BVO) .
49th Annual Tulsa Regional Fl y- In . Info: www.tulsaflyil1 .com
or Charli e Harris at 918-622-8400.
SEPTEMBER 17-Poplar Grove, IL-Po plar Grove Airport.
Vintage Wings & Wheels Muse um. Salute to WW II Combat
Avia tors. Military aircraft displ ay and fly-by. Interviews with
12 WWII veteran s of air combat.
Info: www.poplargrol.eairmotive.com/museum
SEPTEMBER 17-18--Rock Falls, IL-Whiteside County Air port
(SQI). North Central EAA "Old Fashioned " Fly-In . Forums,
workshops, fl y-market, camping, air rally, awards, food &
exhibitors. Info www.l1ceaa.org
SEPTEMBER 22-25-St. Louis, MO-Creve Coeur Airport
(lHO). Monocoupe Club Fly-In/Re union . Info: Frank
Ke rner, (3 14) 277-4306 or monocollpe@sbcglobal.netor www.
monocoupe.com
SEPTEMBER 23-25-Sonoma, CA-Sonoma Skypark (OQ9).
32

SEPTEMBER 2005

Virginia State EAA Fly-In

October 1-2, 2005
Petersburg, VA (PTB)

Evergreen, AL (GZH)
www.serfi.org

www.vaeaa.org

Copperstate Regional

EAA Southeast
Regional Fly-In
October 7-9, 2004

EAA Fly-In
October 6-9 , 2005
Phoenix, AZ. (A39)
www.copperstate.org

23rd Annual West Coast Travel Air Reunion. Come to wine

co untry for the largest gathering of Vintage Travel Airs.
Info: 925-689-8182.
SEPTEMBER 24-0 ntario, OR-Ontario Air Faire-Breakfast by
EAA Ch. 837. Large wa rbird collection, aero airshow, car
show, stage entertainment. Free admission. Info: Roger, 208
739-39 79 o r rlstps@aol.com
SEPTEMBER 24-Topping, VA-Hummel Air Field. 10th Annual
Car & Air Event. 8am-4pm. Featuring antique cars and
planes, plus fire apparatus, tractors & engines, and arts &
crafts. Info: (804) 694-5995 o r in(o@Wingsandwheels.us or
www.wingsa ndwheels.us.
SEPTEMBER 24-Han over, IN-Lee Bottom Flying Field (641).
Wood, Fabric & Tailwheels Fly-In. Info: www.leebottom.com .
OCTOBER 1-2-Midland, TX-Midland Int'l Airport. FINA
CAF AIRSHO 2005 will commemorate 60th Anniversary
of the end of World War II. Info: 432-563-1000 x. 2231 or
pllblicrelations@cafhqorg
OCTOBER S-9--Tullahoma, TN- "1932 to 200S-The Tradition
Lives: Year of the Staggerwing" Staggerwing, Twin Beech 18,
Bonanza, Baron, Beech owners & enthusiasts, Sponsored by
the Staggerwing Museum Foundation, Staggerwing Club, Twin
Beech 18 Society, Bonanza/Baron Museum, Travel Air Division,
& Twin Bonanza Assn. Info: 931-455-1974
OCTOBER 14-15-Pineville, LA-EAA Ch. 614 Annual Fall Fly-In.
Info: http://www.eaa614.org, margaretortigo@hotmail.com or
318-445-1772.
VI N T A GE AIRP L ANE

31

Membershi~ Services
VINTAGE

AIRCRAFT

ENJOY THE MANY BENEFITS OF EAA AND

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32

SEPTEMBER 2005