Vintage Airplane - Jan 2004

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jan 2004

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2/36

VOL

. 3 No. 1 JANUARY 2004

2 VAA NEWS/H .G.

Fra

utschy

4 AEROMAIL

5

MYSTERY

PLANE/H.G. Frau

tsc

hy

6 2003 VINTAGE HALL

OF

FAME

ALFRED

KELCH/H

G. Frautschy

8 PASS IT

TO

BUCK/Buck Hilbe rt

9 JOHN MILLER RECALLS

TWO

CLOSE

ONES/J

ohn

M. Mi ll

er

10 THE MICHIGAN AIR TOUR

BOYHOOD

DREAMS NEVER TRULY DIE

Bruce H. Carmichae l

12 THE ALLEN S ASO WACO

WHAT TO DO WHEN THE BASKET

IS

MOSTLY

EMPTY

/Budd Davisson

16

THE

2003 NATIONAL

AIR

TOUR

THE CHANCE

OF

A LIFETIME

John Coussens and H.G.

Fra

utschy

21

THE 47TH ANNUAL TULSA REGIONAL FLY -

IN

SEPTEMBER 19-20 ,

2003

,

BARTLESVILLE

,

OKLAHOMA

Charles W. Harris

24 THE VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR

GPS

GLITCHES

BETWEEN THE

EARS

/Doug

Stewart

27

NEW MEMBERS

28 CLASSIFIED

ADS


3/36

STR IGHT

e

LEVEL

ESPIE BUTCH JOYCE

PRESIDENT, VINTAGE ASSOCIATION

icking off 2 4

I

'm

putting

my

thoughts down

on

paper just before Norma and

I depart for Kill Devil Hills,

North

Carolina, the site of the

Wright Brothers National Memorial.

The

weather

looks good,

the

Flyer

buil t by The Wright Experience for

EAA is

set to lift off the launching

rail, and 35,000 people are expected

to be there for

the

celebration. I'm

sure there will be plenty of coverage

of the event, and we'll have an arti

cle

here in

the pages

of Vintage

Airplane

in the February issue.

Writing for publication

is

one

of

the skills I've had to work on while

serving

as

your president. To some,

like

the

late

Winston

Churchill, it

comes easily. Recently, I

was

reading

an

article about Churchill's writing

and

speaking abilities.

He

gave his

first speech at

age 13,

and his last in

1963, two years before his

death at

age 90. His collected speeches fill

eight volumes.

He

was said to have

spent an

hour

preparing each

minute

of a speech.

He

once wrote

about his enjoyment of writing:

"Writing

is

an adventure," he

said.

To

begin with, it

is

a

toy and

amusement. Then it becomes a mis

takes me

half

a day to put together

600 words

for

this column

His

prodigious

and

well-written

output

is

quite an inspiration

As

we

start 2004,

the

state of

the

Vintage Aircraft Association

is

good.

This condition

is

a combination of

all

of

the

hard work

and

dedication of

EAA's

staff,

VAA's

own

H.G.

Frautschy

and

Theresa Books,

the

officers

and

directors, volunteers, and those very

kind and dedicated individuals who

help VAA

by

contributing

to the

"Friends of the

Red

Barn" fund. Our

membership has remained solid, but

has

not increased as the staff

and

I

had hoped this year.

Besides the downturn

in

the econ

omy,

one of the reasons

that

has

contributed

to

us

remaining steady

in our total membership numbers

is

the simple fact

that we

have an older

membership

base

than other

avia

tion associations. None of

us

like

to

admit

it, but we're all mortal,

and

some of our stalwart members have

aged out this past year.

To

keep our

membership num

bers solid,

and

avoid a

downturn,

our membership committee has

made a great effort

in gaining new

plane The magazine

is

a great bene

fit to you

as

a member. It's

the

only

publication devoted

to

vintage air

craft that

is published 12

times

a

year for your information and enter

tainment. Sure, you

can

read "feel

good" articles

in other

magazines,

but

how

many

of these large publi

cations really get

down

to the

nitty-gritty, such

as

the recent article

on "How to

keep your Tailwheel

from

Shimmying,"

or

how to

fly a

tail

wheel airplane.

In 1991,

your

Vintage Aircraft Association had the

vision

to

put

together an aviation

insurance program with

the

help of

AUA

Inc. For the past

13

years,

AUA

has guided this program

through

a

number of different companies

that

are

no

longer in business because of

the

consolidation of aviation insur

ance companies.

By

holding

this

program together during this hard

ening of the insurance market,

vintage aircraft

can

still be insured

in this insurance program.

When

it comes

to

aging aircraft

issues

with the FAA, your VAA

is


4/36

VAA NEWS

E Sport Pilot

&

Light-

Sport ircraft

Magazine

Debuts in

April

For half a century

EAA

has dedi

cated itself

to

making recreational

aviation more affordable to

the

av

erage person,

and

it's launching its

sixth decade in this

effort with a

new magazine,

EAA

Sport Pilot

Light-Sport Aircraft.

Serving its

namesake audience, the 64-page

all-color magazine begins its pub

lishing life with its April 2004 issue.

The sport pilot

and

light-sport

aircraft rules will offer a great op

portunity

to

revitalize personal

recreational flying, said

EAA

Pres

ident Tom Poberezny.

SP/LSA

will

remove

the

barriers of time

and

money

that have prevented

many

people from earning a pilot certifi

cate

or

continuing their flying

activities.

The new

LSA

category

will offer enthusiasts

the

opportu

nity to

purchase more-affordable

ready-to-fly aircraft and aircraft

kits.

This

magazine,

along

with

programs

and services that

we're

developing, represents

EAA's

con

t inuing commitment to make

flying for fun more accessible.

With

the

publication of

the

new

magazine,

EAA

will retire

Experi

menter magazine

,

and

its readers

will receive EAA

Sport

Pilot Light

Sport Aircraft. Experimenter

Editor

Mary Jones will

edit

EAA

Sport

Pi

lot

and the new magazine will

GOOGLE

SEARCHES

VAA

MEMBERS

SITE

Thanks to the staff

in EAA's

web depart

ment,

we

continue to add design features

and capabilities to

www.vintageaircra t.org.

Now you can Google your way around

-

_

_

the

site with

the

world's

most popular

._---"':': .."': .-

search engine. Or expand your search to

the

World Wide Web

by clicking

on

I i i i i i j ; ~ ~

Search WWW

on

the same page. This

handy

search

engine is also a part of the members-only section

of

www.eaa.org.

Starting early next year,

VAA

members will have access to a members

only section of the

VAA

website, which will include a variety of archived

articles from the pages of Vintage Airplane magazine.

Nominations

for

EAA

Directors

Pursuant to the Experimental Aircraft Association Inc. bylaws, the presi

dent has appointed six members

in

good standing to act

as

the Nominating

Committee to receive nominations for Class

III

directors (three-year terms)

to replace those whose terms expire during 2004,

and

for a Class

IV

direc

tor

(three-year term)

to

replace

the

director whose

term

expires

during

2004. Such nominations shall be sent to Committee Chairman Ron Scott

at N8708

Sky

Lane,

Rt.

I, East

Troy, WI

53120.

The terms of five Class

III

directors and one Class

IV

director as listed be-

low will expire

at the

2004

annual

business

meeting

held

in

Oshkosh,

Wisconsin,

and

successors to these directors will be elected at

that

meet

ing. Such directors may succeed themselves.

Class III Directors:

Susan Dusenbury,

Bill

Eickhoff, Bob Gyllenswan,

Vern Raburn, Barry Valentine

Class IV Director:

Louis Andrew

According to the

EAA

Restated Articles of Incorporation, the Class IV di-

rector must reside within 50 miles of the location of Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Nominations shall be made

on

official nomination forms available from

Experimental Aircraft Association Inc., c/o Tom Poberezny,

P.O

. Box 3086,

Oshkosh,

WI

54903-3086, or e-mail

[email protected].

The nomination peti

tion shall include a recent

photo

of the candidate and a brief resume of his

or her background

and

experience.

Candidates must have

been

an

EAA mem-

http:///reader/full/www.vintageaircra(t.orghttp:///reader/full/www.eaa.orgmailto:[email protected]:///reader/full/www.vintageaircra(t.orghttp:///reader/full/www.eaa.orgmailto:[email protected]


5/36

memberships they will

pay

the

annual

dues of $40 and select

the

magazine they wish to receive.

Whether

it s

a powered

para

chute, trike, or fixed-wing, if you're

interested in buying,

flying, and

maintaining

light-sport aircraft

and

their regulatory equivalents

and

FAR

Part 103 ultralights,

EAA

Sport Pilot Light-Sport Aircraft is

for you, said

EAA

Editor

in

Chief

Scott M. Spangler.

f you re inter

ested in

flying, building, and

restoring

aircraft of

all

types,

EAA

Sport Aviation

is

your maga

zine

of

choice.

f

members

want both

maga

zines they

can add the

other for

$20. What's more,

EAAers

can add

either

EAA

Sport

Pilot or

EAA

Sport

Aviation

at

any

time

during their

annual membership and

the sub

scription

will

be prorated based

on the time left before

their

mem

bership

is

due

for

renewal.

In

other

words, the magazines

and

memberships will all be aligned to

a single expiration date.

One dues, pick a magazine does

not apply to members who belong

to EAA s divisions and affiliate.

However, to provide all members

with streamlined,

efficient

serv

ice, over the coming year division

memberships

(and

magazines)

will be aligned with the expira

tion

of

the

EAA

membership.

EAA s

membership

department is

2 3

V

Volunteers

of the

Year

For

many

years, the

VAA has

specially recognized a pair

of

volun

teers who, by virtue

of

their unselfish service to

their

fellow members,

have been singled out to receive a special award. More

than

400 volun

teers

put in

weeks

of

work for

the VAA and

its members. They served

meals to hungry

flight

line

volunteers, or

perhaps

they parked

air

planes in

the

South 40. They were

behind the counter at the Red

Barn,

or

worked

in the

Volunteer

and

Membership

booths out on the

flight

line. Perhaps

they

helped

out

in

the

Type Club

or

Workshop tents, or

were

out

judging airplanes. Wherever you find

them,

take a

moment

and say,

"Thanks "

Steve Peters, Columbia City, Indi-

ana,

shakes Geoff's hand as

he

accepts the

VAA

Behind the Scenes

Volunteer of the Year

award.

In

addition to his work during the

day,

Steve

can

also

be

seen

(and

heard

on the radio ) during most

of

the overnight hours, as

he

helps

VAA

Security ensure everyone

stays safe and secure.

Dyle Wilson Trenton, Missouri,

accepts the Flightline Volunteer of

the

Year

award from

VAA

Director

and Co-chairman ofAircraft Park-

ing GeoffRobison. Dyle

has been

a volunteer

for

more

than a

decade, most of that time spent in

helping EAA and VAA members

park their aircraft in showplane

parking and camping.


6/36

AEROMAIL

hapter Newsletters

Paul Poberezn

y

Sir

I received your letter yesterday,

and I wanted to let you know how

much we appreciated getting it.

Your

comments on

our

newsletter were

perfectly timed. Keith Newman and I

have been talking about the newslet

ter

the

past few weeks, and he was

concerned i

he was

on the right

track with it. I felt he was. When he

read your letter, he

was

quite pleased.

I told him that he had his answer for

sure . Keith's love

of

flying and his

concerns for keeping our freedom to

fly is reflected

in

his editorials

and

his newsletter work in general.

I appreciate your offer for snow. It

is a real

novelty here in

southeast

Texas, and just a little bit of it brings

everything to a halt. I'll be

wa

tching

the skies.

Thank

you again for your letter,

and

thank

you

for

bringing

us

to

where

we

are today.

Clark Morong

President, VAA 2

Many

of

us here at

EAA

headquarters,

Dennis Smith, a VAA member from Houston,

Texas, enjoys

taking

all

sorts offolks

for a ride. Here he s giving Faye

Reimer,

76, ofHempstead, Texas,

her

first airplane

ride

over her

hometown of

Waller,

Texas. They flew out of the Skylakes airport.

out in the tank, which would be dis

astrous. Other knowledgeable

operators generally mix it with fuel

in a shaken 12-gallon can and add it

to

the

tank immediately before [fill

ing

the]

tank (usually

dusters

or

sprayers) . MMO is best used as an

upper cylinder

lube

when drawn

into the intake manifold from a nee

dle valve

regulated

container at

1

quart per 1,000 auto miles . This ratio

actually increases available horse

power

by

virtue of the lubricity

added to the upper cylinder and pis

tons as well as

the

valves

and

seats.

Additionally, its

naphtha

base dis

solves

and

removes

carbon,

including

old,

hard

material.

This

loosens the rings and valves, conse

quently

there's

no

more sticking. I

opened up my 60 OOO-mile flat-head

six in our '42 Dodge after I had been

operating

it with a

homemade top

is

far less efficient, but will he lp. I

run

this

in

all eight of

my

collector

(and new) cars, and if I were still fl

y

ing, my 1936 Fairchild 24 would sure

have a

unit on the

Ranger.

Many

years ago the

CAA

did this on a new

0-235-C1 Lycoming,

running

it to

its TBO , and after finding no discern

able wear,

the CAA

approved it for

aircraft use,

but

most unfortunatel

y

I cannot locate this in my files.

Lee

Hurry

Hopkins, Minnesota

Lee

Hurry s letter

has

an interesting

tidbit. Do any of

our members

reca

ll the

CAA

approval mentioned by Lee? If

so,

we d

love

to

hear

about

it.

We

have

no record of it here at EAA .

Lee also included a few

pages

of

data

and a rough sketch of his upper cylinder

oiler for automobiles. There s too much

data

to publish here, but

if

you'd like a


7/36

BY H G FR A U TSC H Y

OCTOBE R'S M Y S T E R Y A N S W E R

factory color trim.ur October Mystery Plane is a

pretty well-known antique. Its un

usual sesquiplane configuration is

distinctive. Here's

our

note:

October's Mystery Plane

is the

Wright WhirlwindJS powered five

place Buhl

Airsedan

CA-SA

in

Ill-fated Buhl Airsedan N-X

291S,

Miss Doran

with red

wings

and nose,

white teardrop

fuselage

trim,

and

blue

tail was

entered

in

the infamous 1927 Dole Pineapple

Co. Air Race from mainland San

Francisco to Honolulu, Hawaii.

Pi-

lot Augy Pedlar from Michigan,

navigator Vilas Knope,

and

passen

ger Mildred

Doran

took

off

in

fog

and

worse,

soon returned

for mo

tor

adjusting,

and

left again to Go

West

into the

foul

weather

over

the Pacific.

Excellent

Dole race

coverage with aircraft photos,

crew, and

even

colors

is shown

in

Aloha by Martin

Jensen with

the

1927 Album series

by Russell

Plehinger in

June 1967

E Sport

Aviation

continuing

in

December

1967 [issue].

Russ

Brown

Lyndhurst, Ohio

A

number

of

other

members

were able

to

correctly identify not

only the

airplane type,

but

also

the

exact

example

built.

They

were

as

follows: John Pugliese, Fresno, Cal

ifornia;

James

Sturber,

Mercer

Island, Washington; Thomas Lym

burn, Princeton,

Minnesota;

John

Mader, Calgary, Alberta; and

Charles F Schultz, Louisville, Ken

tucky. Other correct answers were

received from

Wayne

Muxlow,

Minneapolis, Minnesota; Clarence

Hesser, St. Augustine, Florida; d

Kastner, Elma, New York;

d

Gar

ber, Fayetteville, North

Carolina;

Doug Rounds, Zebulon,

Georgia;

and

Walter

Albert and

John

Bishop, Ocala, Florida.

.......

THIS MONTH'S

MYSTERY

PLANE COMES TO US FROM

JAMES BAYS

OF GARLAND,

TEXAS.

ACCORDING TO

ONE

ARTICLE

HE REFERENCES,


8/36

2 3 VINTAGE

H A LL

OF

FAME

H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

LFRED

B

om in 1918, Alfred Kelch

became enamored with air

planes

and

aviators at age

6 when his

uncle

Percy

Bricker

bought

a war surplus Cur

tiss

Jenny and flew it to AI's

hometown

of

Lake View,

Iowa.

Even uncle Percy's crash landing of

the Jenny didn t dampen his en

thusiasm,

although little Al was

perturbed with his uncle for wreck

ing his Jenny.

He

followed every report

of

Lindbergh's Atlantic crossing, lis

tening with headphones to the

family radio. While Al was

in

jun

ior high school, his uncle returned

to town with

a Curtiss Robin, and

Al was given his first flight lesson.

A lifelong love

affair with

all

things

mechanical has

kept

Al

Kelch involved in

automobile

restoration,

antique

boats, and, of

course, airplanes. A career

mixing

his talents

in art

and mechanical

KELCH

engineering resulted in the found

ing of Kelch Manufacturing, a

company that pioneered a number

of plastic

innovations, including

the

first plastic steering wheel for

the automotive trade.

During

that time, Al

met and,

when

he co u

ld

finally afford

it,

married the lady who would be his

partner

in all his endeavors,

Lois

As

his business grew,

Al

was able

to

squeeze a few dollars out

of the

budget

and

begin his collection of

antique

airplanes. He

purchased

a

Piper

Cub

for $250,

and

has since

restored more than

a dozen

air

planes,

most

of which

he

flew from

his rural home and

airstrip

in

Mequon, Wisconsin, where

he and

Lois

hosted

many years of

antique

airplane fly-ins.

AI's

interest in Lindbergh

led

him

to collect

memorabilia, and

one of the pieces

he

collected was

a small

bronze

statuette of

the

famed

pilot.

Its

resemblance to

Al Kelch designed the

original Lindbergh

trophy used by

EAA

for the

top awards

at

EAA

AirVenture.

On

the

left is the bronze

statue from

the

1920s that served as

the

basis for

the first

prototype

Lindy

shown here on the

right.

That first

Lindy was cast

using

dense

armor

bronze and the finished product was

very heavy.

EAA Lindy

trophy

we all recognize

today

as one of

aviation s most

prestigious awards for aircraft con

struction or restoration.

Al was one of the earliest mem

bers of the Antique/Classic division,

and

became lifetime member num


9/36

AI's uncle Percy brought a Jenny to town, but man

aged to crash

it

on Main Street. Little

Al

(far right,

In dd·ti

a

I

on to co

untl

ess art i

in co

at

and hat) was annoyed with his uncle for

crashing "his" Jenny

he

and Lois

edited the division's

magazine, Vintage Airplane, and he

also served as the

chairman

of

the

Judging Committee.

He

and

chief judge Claude Gray

created

the

core rules for judging

vintage airplanes, a set of rules

that we continue to use to this

day. He also founded the Grand

Champion

Circle

in

a successful

effort to invite top award winners

to

the E convention.

While serving

as

the

president

of the Travel Air club, a visit to

the

Parish's in Tullahoma, Tennessee,

inspired

l to add a porch to the

convention headquarters of the di-

vision,

the

Red Barn. With

the

design help of Pat Packard and the

carpentry skills of Bob Lumley and

other volunteers, the porch

was

added and continues to serve as a

resting and gathering

spot for

annual

antique fly-in F; mrs, Al

and

Lois were hosts to an

or

many years.

Al

loves

rare

, unusual

airplanes. Here's his

Welch

OW8M.

Al at work res toring his

rare

Curtiss- Wright

Travel Air 12Q.


10/36

P SS T TO

BUCK

BY E.E.

BUCK

HILBERT, EAA

21

VAA 5

P O

Box

424

,

UNION

,

IL

60180

Winter

and

whatnot

The

phone rings, and it's

our

friendly

editor, H.G.,

bugging me

about a column.

By

the time you read this, we'll be

in the grips of another winter session.

No preaching

to

the choir.

f

you

aren't well informed

as

to

the

what,

how,

and

when

of winter

flying,

then

you just

don't

read or listen

to

all the things that have been written

and

told

about t

over

the

years

when it comes

to the

precautions

and preparations for winter flying.

Me,

I'm looking forward to some

fun times. I just

came

in from the

hangar where I'

ve

been looking at the

skis for

the Champ. It's time, I said,

as

I looked at the weather report for the

next couple of days. The weather guys

are promising 3 to 6 inches of snow.

It's coming Walking in from the

hangar, the little flurries are evident

with the promise of a lot more. The

temperature

is

hovering right

at

the

freezing level, and we are

waiting

expectantly.

There is a lot to be said for winter

flying. The air

is

nice and thick

and

fluid, making

the engine

,

the

prop,

and the airfoils behave beautifully.

The performance

is

really

enhanced

lover, his

talking about

flying his

open

-cockpit Starduster Too

on

skis

in the dead of winter. I asked him

how cold it was.

His

reply

was,

Don't

make

any

difference. Once it gets down to zero

it just

don't

get

any

colder,

and the

flying

doesn't

get any better than

this " I'm also reminded of a couple I

know who spend their summer

in

up

per Ontario, Canada. They go south

for the winter.

All

the way to Duluth,

Minnesota. It's all in your mind, they

tell me.

Make

up your mind

that

you're going to have fun and enjoy,

and then it's a piece of cake.

I

tend to

agree. Being

on

skis gives

one the freedom you never have

on

wheels or

floats. Every field

that's

big enough becomes

an

airport. You

can fraternize with

neighbors like

never before,

and

often

when

I flop

in

on

one of

my

neighbors and after

giving

them

a ride, I'm invited in for

hot cocoa,

or even

something

stronger. Everyone seems to be in

an

exhilarated mood, exuberant, and

full of Christmas spirit.

When the ice

is

nice and thick, it's

also fun to ski and skim along the icy

surfaces. That summer place becomes

mous

EAA

Hall of Fame person. The

wonderful gal

who

has

been right

there since before and ever since

EAA

started

. Come

on out and

wish her

well

f

you want to fly your skiplane

into Pioneer, you have to make prior

arrangements. This thing fills up

quickly, since

we

have only so many

slots available

for

arrivals. You need to

contact

Sean Elliott,

who

heads up

EAA's Flight Department. E-mail him

at selliott org or call his office at

920-426-6801.

Here's one of the things I learned

about winter flying: Carry a spare set

of socks in your jacket pocket. f

your feet get cold, it's because your

socks are

damp. As unseemly

as

it

may

look, pull off

your

boots

and

put

on

the dry

pair

of

socks. Your

feet will

warm up

quickly. Tuck

the

other

pair back in

your jacket

pocket,

and they'll

be ready if you

have to repeat the process.

The increased performance of

your aircraft will really amaze you.

Carefully pre-heat the engine like the

books say, and take it easy

so as

not to

overboost. It can

be

done. Some years

back when I was flying in and out of

Anchorage and Fairbanks, Alaska, for

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


11/36

O

ne

evening

n

1933 I was

returning

from

a trip in

my New Standard D-25

biplane

and

flying

into

the

old Valley Stream, Long Island,

New

York

airport. There was

no

ra

dio at that time

either on

the

ground or

in the

airplanes, so I did

not have any information about

the wind except what I could judge

from the

windsock. t showed

a

good stiff south sea breeze.

I

entered

a

left

downwind

de

scending

for a

south

landing

and

arrived at about 1 000 feet at

about

midfield

and about

70

mph

lAS. As I

started to

descend

the

airplane

suddenly

dived. A glance

at

the

airspeed indicator showed

only about

35

mph.

I let the

plane

dive

and opened the throttle

wide

until enough airspeed was re

gained then leveled off with

barely

safe

clearance

above

ground.

To

say the very least

I

was surprised

and

puzzled.

After landing I took

off

again

and repeated the downwind de

scent

at a

much higher airspeed.

I LEARNED

THERE HAD

PREVIOUSLY

BEEN

A

FATAL

CRASH

OF

A

COMMANDAIR

BIPLANE

THAT HAD

SUDDENLY

DIVED INTO

ent

reason

at that

same location.

Then

one day in

1935

when

I

was

a

member of

the

Marine

Corps

Reserve

Squadron

at

Floyd

Bennett

Field

there was

a

huge

bank of sea fog

just offshore

south of

the

field. We were flying

Grumman

SF-2

biplanes.

I

was

number three in

a formation take

off to

the south

right toward that

bank

of

clouds. The leader mis

judged

the

distance

to

the

bank of

clouds

and

flew right

into

it.

Number two pilot and

I

tucked

in

close to

the leader

to keep for

mation

in

the

dense fog. The

leader made a beautiful left climb

ing

turn and

we

followed

him

through 180 degrees

and

back

out

of the

fog.

I spoke

on the radio to

compli

ment him

on

his great smooth

climbing turn. He

said that he did

not even know

he had

been turn

ing because his

turn indicator-the


12/36

The Michigan

Air

Tour

Boyhood dreams never truly die

BR

UCE

H CARMICHAEL

ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE

LATE

WILLIAM HAGER

O

ne spring morning in 1969

I stood at the edge of th e

Crystal Fa lls

airport

in

the

Upper

Peninsula of Michi

gan. The field was knee-deep

in

weeds and

a

tattered windsock

hung from its rusting ring.

The

sin

gle cinder block hangar was fill ed

with road equipment countering

the

Haight Memorial Airport sign

above the door. My thoughts drifted

back

to the

early 1930s

and the

mar

velous Stinson old Doc

Haight

kept

in that hangar. I was sad to see the

fragile

interest

in

aviation that had

existed here was now gone.

As I gazed across

the

weed-choked

field, a third of a century rolled away,

and

I was once again an 8-year-old

boy. Filled with anticipation I was

riding in an ancient Cadillac touring

car on my way

to

see the airplanes of

the Michigan Air Tour visiting this

to

hav

e

th

e life-sustaining iron

mines close down leaving a vil

lage

of

able-bodied

men

o

ut of

work? A

town with

two

out of

thre e

storefronts

boarded up

kids

who could not

afford

to

go

to the

movies even when

the

price

was reduced to a nickel.

At

the

same

time

th

ere was exci t

ement in the

air! Men, alone and in small groups,

had been

working

to

fashion the

fabulous

airplanes

in

which our

boyhood heroes

charted

the air

trails There was

an innocence and

faith in that

time

telling us that

hard

work and

ingenuity

was bound

to

payoff. The amazing accomplish

ments

of a small group

of

daring

aviators

easily captured our youth

ful imaginations.


13/36

As

we

neared the field we saw

Wacos, Travel Airs, Gypsy Moths,

Stinsons, Bellancas, Fairchilds, and

Stearmans roar

around

the circuit,

land,

and

taxi into neat rows along

the fence. A tiny wire-braced mono

plane with its belly dragging

on

the

ground

turned

out to be the

Aeronca C-3,

predecessor to

the

light plane,

which

would

soon

dis

place the powerful biplanes of the

1920s as the private pilot's mount.

The fragile beauty of an autogiro in

steep descent against the

northern

sky brought a look of wonder to up

turned faces. Suddenly a gasp arose

from the

crowd.

He has lost his

landing gear." A few of us wore su

perior smiles as we recognized the

sleek Lockheed Orion lap the field

with unbelievable speed. The crowd

sighed as the wheels dropped down.

The pilot of the Detroit News cam

era plane barely had time to chop

power before

we

surged

around

him. I touched

the

cool

smooth

standing

in

the drugstore

asking for the latest copy of

lying

ces

magazine. Old

Mr. Sheffer would always

go through the same ritual,

peering

myopically

at the

rack

and muttering,

"Fly

Aces

,

Fly

Aces." Pretending

he couldn't see it. He would

peer

down

over his glasses

and say, "Perhaps it isn't in

yet./I I would point it out to

him, and he would hand it

down. I would stand rooted

to

the

counter,

thumbing

through the exciting pages.

Once I glanced

up and

saw

his understanding,

tender

smile. He knew an airplane

nut when he saw one.

There were

other

mem

ories of that bygone era.

The

joy of the first

airplane model

one

had built

that

actually

flew

The many airplane sketches that

festooned school papers. The

smoothness

of

the

air after

takeoff from a sod field

on

one's

first

airplane

ride.

The

Michigan

Air

Tour, however,

will always

hold a

special

place in

my

memory.

Slowly

the past slipped

away,

and

the

deserted

air

field

once

again came into

focus. How strange this remi

niscing would

sound

to most

people, I

thought.

But

then,

those children of

the

Depres

sion who became infatuated

with

aviation during the

Great Depression

will re

row, Alaska.

Jean

Mermoz, French

Aeropostal

pilot,

was lost in the

South

Atlantic;

the Italian

De

Pinedo in a

fiery

takeoff crash in

New York; and

Levanevsky,

the

Russian Lindbergh, "Lost

between

the North

Pole

and Alaska./I My

closest high school friend van

ished in his

exploding

P-38 when

gunners in a flack tower

hit it

dur

ing

World War II. After the war, so

many

colleagues lost in dangerous

test flying, including Dr. August

Raspet, who gave me my start

in

flight test. In spite of

i t

all,

the

magic remains.

f today

you should attend

a

model

airplane meet,

a sailplane

meet,

an

Experimental Aircraft

As-

sociation fly-in,

an

air race,

an

air


14/36

THE

AL L ENS

What to Do

hen

the Basket

s

Mostly Empty

ave and Jeanne Allen

don't

know how to do

BUDD DAVISSON

on until they had a beautiful Taper

wing that you 'd have to look at the

the

Straightwing project we knew

we'd eventually be doing."


15/36

130s

on rescue missions

in

England, i t allowed

him to

ERWING

Dave has been a

round-motor

bi

plane freak since he was in diapers.

liMy

mother said I used to sit astrad

dle a couple of boards arranged

like

an

airplane

and

make airplane sounds,

he says. I used to race

the

local crop

dusters around Fresno on my bike. I'd

be running down along side the fields

with them

and

constantly

hanging

out at their operation.

Eventually, they put me to work

and at 11 years old I

was

flagging fields

for them. I stayed with them for

the

Y BUILT

when

there was a lot for a young Air

Force pilot to do.

I was put into Special Opera

tions, initially flying a Helio, and a

buddy

and I started volunteering to

go to Vietnam. Again, I

didn t

know

any better. We were young and in

love with

the

Skyraider and we

wanted to

be Sandy pilots.

As

hard

as

we

tried, however, we couldn't get

orders to 'Nam. They were

sending

all

sorts

of

officers

over who

had

families,

but they

ignored a couple

of footloose Lieutenants. t

didn t make any

sense

then

and it doesn't now.

Everything seems

to

hap

pen for a reason and when Lt

Allen was

assigned

to fly C-

o

FOR

CTICE!

next four or five years and they were

even going to teach me to fly. Myavi

ation

career

got

short circuited,

however, when I

was

16 and loading

chemicals. I got poisoned and was so

sick that my mom and dad said that

was it for me and aviation.

Although

he

got the

bug, so

to

speak, at Lawton

Cropdusters

in

Fresno, he didn t actually get to fly

until some years later.

In high school I figured that my

make one of the most impor

tant

decisions of his life.

I had met Jeanne before I

went

to the Academy and we

pretty much

knew

we

were

going to

get

married.

But, I

couldn t ask

her

to marry me

if I was going to Vietnam .

When I found I was going to

England, however, I said something

to the effect of 'How'd you like to go

to England . And, oh by the way,

would you like to get married?'

The Allens come as a pair,

and

you can find nothing, from their air

plane

registrations

to the

card

on

their

propeller at fly-ins

that

say

Dave Allen. It is always Dave and

Jeanne Allen.

She's the other half of me. She's

hands-down the best thing that has


16/36

Mmmm, leather. That

looks

like

pretty

nice place

to

sit

for 4,OOO-mile

odyssey

through

the Midwest

and

east

coast.

Keeping the original style 4-inch instru

ments

was high

on

the

list

the

Aliens.

wouldn't, just write a check

and

buy one.

For one thing, I was just an

old

ex-Air Force guy.

There

was simply

no

way

I could spend that

kind of

money

on

an

airplane. Then,

when

I

went

with

the

airlines, I kept getting

furloughed and one year, betwee n

Jeanne and I, we

had

nine W-2

forms, we had worked so

many

jobs.

Besides, I really like building stuff.

I'm an old-time mod el

airplane

builder and

there

are times

up

here,

when

it's

snowing

and

you're

snug

gled down in your warm

shop

building something,

that

it's really

fun. I guess

you

could say

that's

my

comfort zone.

We figured we could build or re

build an

airplane

because

we

wouldn't have to write one big

check.

We

could go

into

it a little at a

time

and, when the money

slowed

= ~ ~ ~

.

down, we'd slow

down

too.

When we

had money, we'd buy

the

big stuff. When

you're

building or

re

building from scratch,

you

buy

some materi

als, then you spent six

months or a year

working

on it barely

spending a dime. It's a

good way to control

the cash out-flow./I

The first

airplane

project was

the Nu

WACO Taperwing kit

that

was

being pro

duced by Ernie Bodie.

The kit

had

a fully


17/36

titude

of 9,000-10,000 feet, the zigs

and

zags get really close together

and

that 36-foot runway becomes a side

walk. Landings in

the Taperw ing

were always a cottonmouth affair.

We knew a Straightwing, like an

ASO,

would be

much

better for us. In

fact, we had been looking for

one

for

sometime. We eventually bought

what

would have to

be called

not

a

'basket case,' but an

'envelope

case'

because basically all we

had

was

an

envelope which contained the

pa

perwork for a 1930 ASO Waco.

Not having

an airframe for a pat

tern, the Aliens were

going

to

have

to be creative, resourceful,

and most

of all, determined.

We

got almost complete draw

ings

for the

wings from

the

Smithsonian. For the fuselage, how

ever, we worked with Mike Strong

up

in Powell, Wyoming,

who had

a pat

tern

Waco 10 fuselage

to

be used

in

building a jig. He was already build

ing one for

himself and

asked if we

wanted

one too, so we worked

with

him on it.

With

a

basic fuselage

and

wing

draWings in hand, the Aliens

were

well

on their way

to

having their

Straightwing. However,

since

Dave

was

weldingphobic,

he

sent the

fuselage

up

to

a

Waco fabrication

speCialist

to

have the landing

gear

and

tail built in their hard

jigs.

The wing drawings were actually

pretty good, plus I borrowed a wing

panel from Mike Strong to use

as

ref

erence. Tim Bode made the metal

fittings for me, which let me concen

trate on

the

wood.

had set

for

the airplane.

What

we

wanted

above

every

thing

else was a reliable airplane

that

we could fly without worrying too

much about

it. This airpl

ane

was def

initely not going

t o

be

a

hangar

queen.

We

wanted to

fly it as if it

was a

'normal' airp

l

ane and

take

it

just about anywhere in the country.

A]-5 is j

ust

too hard

to

support

and we'd

always be

worrying

about

it.

So,

we insta lled a ]-6,

which

tech

nically makes our airplane

a CSO,

not an ASO. The

j-6,

however, is

much

easier

to

support because parts

are

more

available. Plus, it's a

more

reliable engine. [t may

not

be a mod

ern engine, but

it's as c l

ose

as we

could get on this kind of airplane.

Dan Murray up in

Longmont

did

the

engine

for us and we hu

ng

it on

a mount made by Don Gene.

Scott Gregerson

up in

Pocotello,

Idaho,

is

an expert in sheet metal and

had some original Waco parts tha t he

duplicated for us .

That

included

the

headrest

and the tail

cone.

Dan

did

the

compound curved

piece

on

the

top of the forward fuselage but

we

did

most

of the rest.

john Cournoyer

of

Creve Coeur, Missouri, made the alu

minum

fuel

tank.

A lot

of the

sheet

metal, like the

pieces between the cylinders,

are

wire rolled

and

[

co

uldn't find any

one

to do

it .

So

I l

ocated one

of

the

elusive Pexto

322

wire rollers and

taught

myself

how

to

do

it. I was

re

ally worried

about

some of

the

parts

because they

were

supposed to be

compound

curves

and

I expected

them to give

me

real

heartburn.

f-

instrument panel, the Allens

had

some serious decisions to make.

We

had

a

bunch of

factory pho

tos and

wanted

to be as

original

as

pOSS

ible,

while

still

making

the air

pl

ane

usable. We

had

a few original

instruments

we

overhauled but

we

refaced

some modern instruments

too.

The

altimeter, for one, however,

had

to

be an original because it was

one

of the old four -inch, nonsensi

tive types

and

a

newer altimeter

would have looked

out

of place.

We weren't looking

forward

to

flying

with

a single-needle altimeter

in some

of

the controlled airspaces

we'd

be

flying into, but

we

didn't

want to

make

that

big of a change in

the

appearance of

the

cockpit. t

turns out we

shouldn't

have worried.

We made the

main

panel look

as

original

as

we could

but

we

mounted

a little bitty 2-1/4 Becker radio

and

transponder

in

small side

panels

down

by my knees. The transponder

took

care of

our concerns

about the

altimeter because in

one

of its modes

it

will

display

a

correct altitude to

the

foot. It's really pretty neat.

Almost

every

antique project of

any kind involves a photo

or

two of

a specific airplane

that

becomes

the

model for

that

project. This was par

ticularly true when it

came

to the

Allen's

ASO.

We decided early to replicate

the

Wacos flown by

Art

Davis

and

johnny Livingston in

various races

and the

1929 Air Tour. That's where

some

of the fairings

came

from and

continued on p

ge

6


18/36

i i i i i i i i i i I ~ ~ T h e 2003 National Air Tour

The chance of a lifetime

JOHN

COUSSENS

RE-CREATING

TilE 192 j-I931

NA.TIONAL IR TOURS

T

h

roughout

life I

have

learned that we never rec

ognize the

most

significant

moments in our lives

until

they ve passed. When a man named

Greg Herrick introduced himself to

me

at AirVenture

2002 and invited

me to fly my

1928

Travel Air 4000

biplane in

the 2003

National Air

Tour, I felt flattered. It

sounded

like

a fun event. Looking back now, I re-

alize

how

thos e few minutes with

Greg changed my life forever.

Thirteen months la t

er,

loaded

with camping

gear,

cameras

and

more than a

little

trepidation I

headed

east from

my home airport

in Arlington, Washington. Ahead

of

me

lay an 8,600-mile odyssey, with

over

half that distance needed just

come. When

starting

day dawned

electricity filled the air as I ate break

fast

and headed

to

the

airport. Low

fog

heightened

the

drama as

I

walked

among

ancient aircraft

on

the eerily silent ramp. During start

ing ceremonies

we

all listened

intently as Edsel Ford II

and

Erik

Lindbergh

spoke of the history and

value of

our coming

event.

The first

minutes of the tour

are

etched

in my

mind

through the

sights and sounds of his tory relived.

Over 30

radial en g in

es

including

Wrights, Pratts, Lycomings,

and

Con

tinentals loafed their idle songs as I

sat in my

Travel Air,

at the back of

the ramp

watching dozens

of

pro

peller

blades spin lazily in the

brilliant sunshine. One by

one

: 26

We

left the

lakeshore fog

of

De

troit behind

us

and

headed west

toward Kalamazoo, my Travel

Air as-

signed

to the

slowest group of planes.

That group included

the

two Sikorsky

Amphibions,

and the awe I felt join

ing those two majestic birds in

formation simply defies description.

Across

the

first four days we

landed in Michigan, Indiana, Illinois,

Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa, and

at each stop we were treated like visit

ing heroes. Young and old alike asked

for

our

autographs

on

programs

and

Air Tour

posters

and hosts at each

airport threw open both their hangars

and their hospitality.

Those first few legs held surprises

and challenges, too, with winds caus

ing a few pilots to delay departures,


19/36

clear

to

the Gulf of

Mexico

, con-

firmed the wisdom

of

stopping

short. Craig Schiller, Greg Herrick s

righthand man, saved our bacon in

Des

Moines,

arranging hotels for

over 80 people and hangars for most

of the planes

at

that first of several

unplanned overnighters.

Throughout the Tour, weather

continued to alter our plans. During

a scheduled free day in Wichita, the

Stearman owners had arranged to

fly

to

McConnell Air Force base

to

visit

the

very hangar in which their

planes

were built. Concurrently, I

had planned to get all the Travel

Airs

to

their birthplace at

Beech

Field, and possibly visit the original

Travel Air factory buildings that still

stand

within

the

Beech complex.

Steady rains that eased occasionally

but soaked us throughout the day

scuttled

both

trips.

Although

the

rains

of Wichita

gave

way

to beautiful

skies

from

Kansas to Georgia, Hurricane Isabel

lurked

ominously in

the

Atlantic.

Even as early as our first

night

in

Kansas, Isabel s track looked likely

to hit Kitty Hawk only a day before

we

planned to

arrive. We watched

TV weather each night and hoped

for a reprieve.

t

never came.

When

we reached Peachtree,

Georgia,

the

fearsome

power of

Is-

abel stood in our path . No pilot in

the group

felt

willing

to

push

its

boundaries, so by unanimous vote

we

delayed

in

Peachtree to

let the

storm pass. But before the sun had

set,

our

first day in Georgia

took

on

an ominous hue. Miss Veedol slewed

Edsel Ford waves the starter's flag for

Erik Lindbergh recalls the fact

that

his each aircraft and

NAT

organizer

grandfather had planned on flying in Greg Herrick and author Tim

0 -

one

of

the original air tours, but bad Callaghan give a thumbs up as

weather kept him from the start. they taxi out

for

departure.

Typical

of

the vast majority

of

the tour stops, the local

community of

Wausau,

Wisconsin, did their best to make the tour pilots and crew welcome. A terrific

lunch was

put

on in one

of

the

han

ga

rs

,

and

mayor Linda Lawrence and

loca

l

Chamber

of

Commerce members gave a short welcoming speech.


20/36

Greg

Herrick

is pleasantly surprised by

Edsel

B.

Ford

II as Ford presents him

with the family's "Spirit ofFord

award for his work in recreating the

National Air Tour.

Greg's

vision of the

three-week long

event

as one

that

would educate the public

was borne

out

at each

stop

as hundreds

of

people (and

in a couple places, even thousands )

came out to look at the vintage

air

planes on the tour.

Travel Air NAT 2, flown by John

Coussens.

The

NAT planes

line

up for

the first

takeoffof

the

tour

from

Ypsilanti,

Michigan.

Clark Seaborn and his

Fokker

Uni

Ted

Davis Flies NAT 27, a Travel Air

versal crew.

E-4000.

Clark

Seaborn

got a workout at

each

stop, hand cranking the inertia

starter on the Pratt Whitney

mounted on the nose ofthe Fokker

t

each

stop,

the

crowds

had

to

wait

for

just a while so that

each

aircraft

could be serviced with

fuel

and oil.

Then

the crowds

were

allowed to min-

gle with

the

airplanes and aviators


21/36

The

Lock family's pair

o

New Standards rest

for a moment

before start

ing the

day's labors.

Both

big

biplanes hopped rides at the

tour stops,

often arriving ahead

o

the

tour

and stimulating interest in the event.

Ted

Beckwith and

his wife Bev flew

what would be known

as

the small

est airplane

on

the tour, their newly

restored

Great Lakes 2T-1A.

A pair o Tri-Motors , a Stin

son 6000-B, and the

Skyways Ford pass

in review

paying their respects to

the

Wright brothers

as

they pass

by

the gran ite monument at

The grand

Champ

ion

Antique

o

Kill De

vil

Hills, North

Ca

r

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh 2003

was

olina,

on

ly

days

after

on

the tour. Here's

Ben

Scott and his Hurricane

Isab

el slashed

spectacular Stearman

4E

Speedmail.

through the Outer Banks.

A

pair

o

1928

monoplanes.

Before

being permanently

retired, th

e

Hank Ga

lpin in his Travel

Air

FAA

's

DC-3,

N34 , participated

in

the

The

reproduction

o

the Spirit

o We

natchee, the 929 Bellanca

Skyrocket

built

by

EAA Chapter

424

was on the tour. Unfor

tunately,

th

e left main

gear fold

ed

during

some gusty crosswinds,

so the Bellanca

had

to

be

trucked

home to Washington state for

re

pairs. We wish them well, and you'd like to

know more about this adventurous project,

log on

to www.spiritofwenatchee.org.

Waldo

Anderson

shep

he

rds Thomas Schrad

e's

Sikorsky

S-38

around

The sight

o

an

the midwestern skies o

other Sikorsky

southern Mi chigan.

Amphibion

o

the

wingtip was enough

to put

goose

bumps

on anyone. Dick

and

Patsy

Ja

ckson's

Sikorsky S-39 is

fram ed by

th

e

tail

o

th

e S-38

Spirit

ofOsa.

http:///reader/full/www.spiritofwenatchee.orghttp:///reader/full/www.spiritofwenatchee.org


22/36

N T iary

byH.G.

Frautschy

Echoing John's comments, joining

the

National Air Tour,

if

only for a few days,

was

the

chance

of

a lifetime. I jumped at

the

opportunity

to

hop

in the

second

Sikorsky 5-38 built by the

late

Buzz Ka

plan's company, Born Again Restorations.

Owned by Buzz's

partner in

the

project,

Thomas Schrade

of

Las Vegas,

the

plane

was being flown on the

first

portion of the

tour by

the amiable Waldo Anderson.

We

waddled down

the

taxiway past a beam

ing pair

of

starters, Greg Herrick and

the

flag-waving Edsel Ford. Ford clearly en

joyed his immersion in vintage aviation,

if

only

for

the morning.

Over

20

years ago, I spent the very start

of my professional career at Sikorsky Air

craft

and

had a black and white photograph

of

the Sikorsky 5-40 Pan American Am

phibion hanging

by my

desk. Never in

my

wildest imaginings would I have believed

we'd be seeing its two predecessors in the

air

together,

let

alone

me

flying one, and

then later the other. lying

magazine

columnist Lane Wallace and I traded

the

right seat of

the 5-38,

and we both mar

veled

at the airplane's capabilities.

With its

hull

suspended below the wing, and the

twin

outrigger booms

stretching

back to

the twin fins,

it

seemed that

the

parts were

flying in formation with the hull

Even

more

amazing was looking

out

the window and

seeing Dick Jackson's incredible Sikorsky

5-39

restoration flying

in

formation. The

two Sikorskys were paired from the

start

until the 5-38 had to leave the tour be

cause

of

a commitment

to

fly the airplane

for a movie (it served as a stand-in for

Howard

Hughes' 5-43).

It seemed every direction you looked,

flew by

at 500

feet. The

group

of

Friends

of

Meigs Field supporters and their banner

held high were clearly visible, and

I m

sure

all of

us

felt

the

same

frustration

at

the

ability of one man to destroy such a valu

able asset

to the

city

of

Chicago.

We

had all

looked

forward

to landing

at

that great

field, but Mayor

Daley's

destruction of

Meigs made that impossible.

It was an

extraordinarily

hazy

day as

we

flew

north,

and as I flew loose

formation

with

the

5-38

along

the

lakeshore, there

was

no discernable horizon unless

you

looked inland. Both Dick and I were mes

merized by

the

same vision, as

we

could

see

only the 5-38 framed in the windshield

frame and

struts.

No lake, no shore, just

the

haze

tapering up

to

a

bit of

blue

the

fur

ther

up

you

looked.

The engine noise

seemed

to be far in

the background, and

the two Amphibions were just suspended in

midair. It felt eerie. It truly

was

an amazing

sight,

one

that none

of

us will

forget.

The next day's leg to Wausau, Wiscon

sin, was with

Ted

Davis in John Coussens'

Travel Air, which gave

me

a great opportu

nity

to

look

at

a number

of

the other ships

in the NAT flight.

The lunch

in

Wausau,

hosted by

the

Chamber of Commerce (in

cluding

VAA

member Madonna McMahon)

was

wonderful.

Wausau was an original

stop in 1928,

and

the

home

field of the

winner

of that

year's tour, John

P.

Wood.

Again, the people

who turned out were

fas-

cinated with the visit, and wanted

to

know

as many details as we could relate about

each aircraft. Greg Herrick's vision

for

the

tour was vindicated each time we educated

the public about

these

grand airplanes.

Far

too

soon

I,

joined by my two chil

Even

the spectators got in on the fun

Ruth

Coulson

dressed

up

in period garb

for

the tour

s

stop

in Kalamazoo,

Michi-

gan. Ruth and her husband,

Phil,

later

joined th

tour

with the Waldo's

Flying

Service New Standards, which flew the

tour and hopped

rides

at

each stop.

in

between. We were doctors,

lawyers,

engineers, airline

pilots,

and

contractors. Our camaraderie

grew

not

from our

occupations

or

hometowns, but rather

from

the

common

love of

antique

aircraft

that

made us willing to give nearly a

month

of

our lives

in

order to fly

the

tour. Nearly all of us made i t

back

to

where we'd started, success-

fully

traveling

over 4 ,000 miles

across

21

states,

and

we did it all

to

gether.

Yet

suddenly it was over.

Leaving Willow

Run after

th e

tour, the sky was strangely void of

friends

surrounding

me. For the first

time

in my

life, flying felt odd

and

empty and

sad;

the lump in

my

throat

stayed with me clear into

Iowa as I mourned the end of such a

grand adventure.

The next day, though, off by my-


23/36

Don Pellegrino s original 1936 Rose Parakeet A 1. It is

Bill Byars

of Okmulgee flew his

rare Luscombe

T8F to

power

ed

by a Continental

C-90. Don flew

260 cold miles

Bartlesville. It s powered by a Lycoming 0235

of

135

hp.

from Rhome, Texas.

THE

47TH

ANNUAL

TULSA

REGIONAL

FLY-IN

September 19-20 2003 Bartlesville Oklahoma

CHARLES W.

HARRIS

SR. CO-CHAIRMAN

ould not have been better if one had set out to

write the perfect script and then implemented

that mythical, impossibly perfect plan.

The weather was beyond belief.. .simply be

yond

the

ability to conceive; absolutely sheer

clear cloudless skies

in

virtually total calm, overlooking

manicured acres of thick grass parking; two incomparable

Oklahoma Indian summer 60- to 75-degree days, back to

back; what could more perfectly set the stage

for the Tulsa

EAA Chapters to host the 47th Annual

Tulsa

Regional

Fly-In.

A turnout of 323 grand grass-roots airplanes came from

near and far. The variety was seemingly infinite How is it

possible

to

park a 1929 OX-5 Command-Aire bathtub

cockpit biplane

next

to

the

most beautiful, highly pol

ished 1938 Spartan 7W;

which

is parked next to an

Executive parked

next

to a Grand

Champion

level 1936

SR-8C Gull Wing Stinson, which is in turn, parked next

to an equally spectacular 1937

SR-9E

Gullwing, which

is

in

turn

parked next to a pristine and rare 1931 Davis D1

W? These beauties were placed on

the

west perimeter of

the Frank Phillips

Field

Ramp as Jim Younkin's stark white

DGA-6 Mulligan and u.S. Senator Jim Inhofe's

brand

spanking new RV-8

sporting

the insignia of the U.S.

Senate, occupied the front and center space. On the south

side of the ramp parked right in the middle of all this fin

ery

was Steve

Patterson s

gorgeous

1979

Aero L-

39C

Czech-Russian jet

trainer

whose camouflage

paint had

been polished to a

high

-gloss sheen. That's the way

the

ramp was parked, if you don t count the two glistening T

6s that were parked just west of Mulligan, or the C -6 and

the

Yak

52 parked just behind the T-6s. The T-6s and the

CJ-6 and Yak had arrived in the closest of practiced forma

tion, further exciting the several

thousand

aviation fans

on

the field admiring the show airplanes.

But the showcase

ramp

airplanes were just the tip of

the iceberg. While we had a few airplanes on Thursday the

18th, Friday the 19th saw a healthy number arrive and by

Friday evening,

we

had nearly 100 aircraft in and grouped

into their respective categories. The body

of

the iceberg

came into full view on Saturday as the airplanes began to

arrive in big numbers even before 8:00 a.m. The enjoyable

and pleasantly cool 60-degree temps and crystal clear skies

coupled

with

near total calm

brought the

airplanes

into

Frank Phillips Field like flies to a mid-summer outdoor

picnic table. And come they did, seemingly every make

and model

that

one can imagine-from Art and Betsy


24/36

Knowles rare bathtub cockpit

configured 1929 Command-Aire

open

biplane to Tom Gu

tmann s

two

brand

new, fresh out of

the

box, European-import super slick

composite

12S-

hp

CT2Ks,

two of

only three in the

entire

United

States.

And

they were

all at

Bartlesville The display of fine

show planes was impressive.

While we

do

not have a

hard

count

on all affinity type air

planes, we know

we had

16

Luscombes, 14 Short Wing Pipers,

13

Cubs, four

or

five Swifts, etc.

There was a batch

of

RVs I would

guess 12-1S, bu t we d i

dn t get

a

good count

or a

good count

on

the 120/140s, 170s, 19Ss, but

there

were a

goodly number of

each group. Obviously, when 323

airplanes attend, there was a lot of

everything on hand.

There

are few, if

any, fly-ins

that

keep their

guests, patrons,

47th Annual

Tulsa

Regional Fly-In

Balloted Grand Champions

Grand Champion,

Antique

1938 Spartan 7W Executi

ve

, NC 17616

Ken

Lorraine Morris , Pop lar Grove , IL

Grand

Champion Classic

1953 Piper PA

20

Pacer

Frank Sperandeo, Fayettevi

lle

, AR

Grand Champion, Contemporary

1967 Gru

mman

Widgeo

n

N4453

Mar

k Trimb le, Holl ister, MO

Grand Champion Experimental

1

961

Corben

Baby Ace N

385T

Jim

Eck

, Ponca Ci

ty

OK

Grand Champion, UltralightlSport Aircraft

1998

Tea

m A

r

Bi ke,

NX

61453

Paul

Fieb

i

ch

, De rby,

KS

Grand

Champion Warbinl

1943 Fai rchild M-62A ,

PT

-19, N 54712

Alan

Brakefield, Goldsby,

OK

Chainnan s Choice

1943

Ho

ward DGA-15P N 9599H

Joe Dudley

, Allen , OK ,

Don Sharp

,

Pauls Valley OK

and staff as well-informed like the

newcomers who might not know the

annual

Tulsa classic does. The pub

history

of

sport

aviation,

its people,

lic address system is up and

its airplanes, and its lore . Bill pro

operating early on so Bill Hare can vides

the

fly-in

patrons

with a

keep everyone informed

on

impor

constant

array

of

up to

the

moment

tant

happenings. Bill's vast reservoir information to

assist

the guests in

of

aeronautical knowledge

is

a golden

staying

current during the

show.

It

is

resource to all, but most especially to this

same

sound system

that also

John

Smith of

Greensboro,

Georgia,

Terry

Wallace

ofBed ford,

Texas,

owns

brings the great music of

the Big

Band

Era as background to the

fly-

in

activities

when

Bill is

not

live

on

the microphone.

Bill

kep

t

everyone alerted to

the high

-profile arrivals,

both

as

to the

personalities

and

airplanes.

There

aren t

many fly-ins that

have the great fortune of an

nouncing arrivals such as

Ken

and Lorraine Morris in their 7W

Spartan, or Jim

Younkin

in his

fabulous

DGA

-6 Mull igan,

or

Art

and

Betsy Knowles

in

their

OX-S

powered Command-Aire biplane,

or,

of

all things

in

landlocked

northeastern Oklahoma,

Mark

Trimble in his flaming red

twin

300-hp Lycoming radial-powered

Grumman

Widgeon amphibian

And there are even fewer fly

ins

that

can

announce

forum

schedules,

especially forums

that

include the chief of the en

tire FAA medical

section, Dr.

Warren Silberman, who is t he best

thing

tha

t

has

happened to

civil

aviation regulatory medical matters.

He is a

champion and without ques

tion,

the best the

FAA

has

ever

had.

The forums included sessions on

the

al

ready mentioned FAA medical

matters, aviation oils and lubricants,

A pair of fire-breathing 300-hp Ly-


25/36

Cessna 120/140s,

Cessna

170s,

Cessna 195s, the Luscombe 8 series,

Swifts, Cubs, short-wing

Pipers,

Mooney Mites and Culvers, experi

mental

autopilots,

the

RV series

of

experimental airplanes, ultralights,

and

light-sport aircraft,

as

well

as

a

forum on Getting Your Experimental

Certificated.

The big Phillips hangar south of

the

FBO

office was filled with people

all day Saturday buying things of in

terest to airplane people. In this area

we

owe

FBO

David Harding a

huge

vote

of

thanks

for

the use

of

the

hangar

and

the great Phillips avgas

discounted to $1.99/gallon.

And, speaking of Phillips 66, we

were pleasantly

and

singularly

hon

ored

on Saturday

morning by the

visit to the busy ramp by newly ap

pOinted Phillips Aviation Manager

Steven McCullough, his lovely wife,

and their two children. They are new

residents of Bartlesville

and

we were

thrilled to

have

them out on the

ramp to enjoy the wonderful Okla

homa weather, the

people,

and of

course

the

airplanes.

We

showed

Steve

the

Ken and Lorraine Morris

perfectly polished 1938 Spartan

Ex-

ecutive, which Steve had

trouble

believing was manufactured long be-

fore he was born Please, everyone,

remember

Phillips is

EAA's

invalu

able partner in fuel

support

for the

Young Eagles program. Can you be

lieve

it

has

been

10 years

since

we

initiated this Phillips 66-Young Ea-

gles Fuel program for EAA? Then

Aviation

Manager

Jack Hammond

was very gracious and warmly recep

concluded and some of the airplanes,

which had been parked all the way

from the FBO ramp south to the ter

minal building

ramp, began

to

depart; we counted

the

ballots and

determined our winners.

We held

the

awards

dinner

in

the

large lion the field"

tent;

the food

was excellent, the band and vocalists

outstanding,

and the

award winners

very deserving.

The 47th Annual Tulsa Regional

Fly-In had

come to

a conclusion. It

was

a picture perfect fly-in under ab

solutely ideal conditions in a superb

location. This

is

one show we don't

have to take on the road six weeks to

get right

The 47th was in the finest tradi

tion of

all

of

its predecessors.

The

planning and organizing committee

is

already at work on the 48th, sched

uled for Bartlesville

on

September 17

and 18, 2004; hold your breath

Our deepest thanks to

the

200

plus volunteers whose unreserved

talent, dedication, and passion for

airplanes and airplane people made

this happen. Thanks

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26/36

GPS

glitches

between the

ears

DOUG

STEWART

"Cleared

for

takeoff,

left

turn on

course approved,"

the

tower instructed

Thus I was

me. Looking to the right to ensure that

no one

was

on

final (never

trust

any-

somewhat shocked

one not even

the

tower controller),

I taxied onto the runway. I applied full

when

my GPS

power,

and

as

the

rudder gained

re-

said

the

ETE

ponsiveness

I lifted the tail.

Shortly

thereafter the mains left the runway,

estimated time en route)

and I was on my way back

home

after

enough, there

was the problem. In-

dropping

my son off to return to stead of saying

KGBR

(Great

was more than

school after a weekend home.

Barrington, Massachusetts) it

said

Observing local noise abatement

2 hours.

KGRB (Green

Bay

Wisconsin).

procedures, I climbed through 1,000

feet MSL before turning left on course. This route was be-

coming quite familiar to me, now

that my

son was attending

school

on

the other side of the state from where we lived. I

was

getting to know

all

the landmarks that

defined

the

route like the back of my hand. It wasn't a long trip, just less

than 100 miles by 1 mile, but it always took a lot longer go-

ing back home into the westerly winds. Back when I used to

fly

the

Mirage for my boss

to

this

same

airport, the

trip

home usually took a little under half an hour. In

my

Super

Cruiser it was more like an hour and a half trip.

Thus

I was

somewhat shocked when my GPS

said

the

ETE (estimated

time en

route) was

more than

12

hours.

I

also

noted

that the CD (course deviation indicator) was

Apparently a little bit of dyslexia

had crept in as I programmed my

GPS

for

the

flight home.

And for those

of

you who might ask "Were you

in

a hurry

when

you programmed the GPS?" the answer would have

to

be

in the

affirmative. Had I

not been

familiar

with the

route I

might not

have noticed

the

problem as quickly, and

might have found myself well off course, and perhaps even

violating some airspace.

Herein lies

one of the

traps

of

GPS usage...

and there

are

many

traps. Whether because

of

haste, dyslexia,

or

a myr-

iad

of other

reasons it is

quite

easy to incorrectly enter a

waypoint into our

GPS.

f

we

do not have

a

chart with

a

course

line

drawn

on it,

and if

we have not

plotted

our

true

course

and

converted

it

to

a

magnetic

course, we


27/36

is all too easy to hit the wrong button and become totally

"lost" as you try to get back to the screen you were origi

nally viewing.

(For

those

who

know

what

buttons to push,

it's also very easy to hit the wrong one when the turbulence

starts to kick up.)

Another

problem that

GPS has created is

that

of more

frequent airspace incursion. Wait, you

say,

doesn't

GPS

give

us

much better situational awareness? Indeed it does. But if

we

blindly accept what

the GPS

says

without

backing

that

up with a chart,

and

if we are using a less expensive unit

without

a

moving map, or

have

our moving map

scaled

down to a small scale (to give better clarity to the map), we

might

not see that we

are about to (or perhaps already have)

bust some airspace. Believe me, it

is

happening all too often.

At

the

seminars I give on

GPS

usage I like

to

ask

the

au

dience

the

following questions. Please answer for yourself,

as well.

1.

How many of you have a handheld or panel-mounted

GPS? Many hands usually go up for this one.

2. How

many of

you

know how to

program a

direct-

to" waypoint? Usually the same

number

of

hands is held

high.

3. How

many of

you know how to program a route on

your GPS?

For

this question the number of hands held up is

reduced by typically 50 percent to 75 percent.

4. And

how many

of you

who

know

how

to program a

route also know how

to

edit

the

route?

At

this

point

there

are usually only a few hands being held up. I would like to

say

that

if you

cannot

answer the last question in

the

affir

mative, you still have a great deal to learn about your

GPS.

I would like to offer a

few

tips for better, and safer, use of

GPS

navigation systems. f the unit

is

new to you, take it

home and

learn

how

to use

it in

the "simulator"

mode in

the

comfort and safety

of

your favorite easy chair. In the

cockpit, in flight, is not

the

time to be learning

how

to use

your GPS f using a handheld unit, program your route be

fore engine start.

(In

the winter it

might

be

better

to

program after engine start, but before taxiing, while the en

gine warms up.)

Whether

you

have

a handheld or

panel-mounted GPS, do not attempt to program your GPS

while you are taxiing. Too many runway incursions have

happened as a result

of

this, and taxi collisions have oc

Fly high with

a

quality Classic

interior

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Jan 2004