Vintage Airplane - Mar 2005

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2005

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2/36

VOL 33, NO.3 2005

CONTENTS

1

Straight

and

Level

2

VAA News

4

Mail

5 Reminiscingwith BigNick

My35-Year LoveAffair(Part1)

byNickRezich

8 The VintageInstructor

Patternsinth esky

byDougStewart

10

Factorv Falco

Plywoodbutterflyreborn

byBuddDavisson

14 TypeClubNotes

Removingand installingaprop on aContinental tapered-shaft

engin

e,

from th eLuscombeand Cub Clubnewsletters

COVERS

RONT

COVER The

only one of it"s kind; this

factory-built Falco is the sole example with an FM

certificate of registration in the Utility category.

Th

e sleek all-metal Italian speedster was restored

by Marc Stamsta and was the Most Unique trophy

winner in the Contemporary category at EM

AirVenture Oshkosh 2004. EM photo using Canon

digital photographic equipment by Jim Koepnick.

EM photo plane flown by Bruce Moore.

BACK COVER

John Sarsfield, Longmont , Colorado,

is an

EM

Master Artist , and he recently painted

the Reginald Mitchell designed Supermarine 55. A

pair of 55 s won both first and second place in the

1927 Schneider

Cup

trophy races in Venice, Italy.

Flight lieutenant S N Webster and O F Worsley

flew the pair, with Webster coming out on top with

an

average speed over the course of 453.282

km/h

(281.656 mph). Our thanks to

John

for shar

ing his acrylic painting.


3/36

G OFF

RO ISON

PRESIDENT VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

"Working"

at

the Airport

O

f late it

seems that

I hear

more and more folks talking

about

the

age-old question

of why we fly. " A Vintage

member recently reminded me of yet

another personal

perk that aviation

provides him and others who

fly.

Even

though

this

member

mentioned the

various successes he has experienced in

lithe business of aviation,

I

he put

much

greater value in having the opportunity

to "go to work at the airport" each

and

every day. I had never really thought

much about that as a concept.

Although I am fortunate to have a job

I

like

(most of the time), I am now forever

envious of those who

go

to work at the

airport every day of the

week.

You really

have to stop and think about it. I know

clearly what "being at the airport" does

for my emotional state. Other than my

family there

is

little in my life that gives

me greater pleasure than hanging around

at the airport with my aviation friends.

You know how that works You go

out to the hangar to work on your trav

eling machine or your current project,

and suddenly there

are

a couple of

people hanging around. If you're lucky,

at least

one

of them

is

helping you do

hears when people talk about the "Osh

kosh" experience. It's the airplanes that

get you to come to AirVenture

but

as

most of you readers already know, it's

mostly

about

the friendships made in

Oshkosh that get you to want to come

back to

the

world's greatest aviation

event year after year.

Speaking of great aviation events, by

the time you receive this edition of Vin-

tage Airplane the Sun 'n Fun Fly-In will

be just a month away. The 31st Annual

Spring Celebration of Flight in Lakeland,

Florida, is scheduled for April 12-18,

200S.

This spring aviation ritual

is

always

an excellent way to launch into the new

flying season. I hope to

see

you there.

Over

the

past few years a portion of

the Vintage parking area at AirVenture

has hosted a

wonderful collection

of

specially parked aircraft types. This all

started when V

AA

Director RogerGomoll

decided that type-club parking seemed

to require a "secret encoder ring" to get

a spot. That wasn't our intention at all,

so Roger, who had become the chair

man of the type-club tent during that

same period, decided

to

demystify

the

process and announce a unique oppor

tunity

to

all the type clubs. Each club

ted by the middle of January.

For those type clubs who have partici

pated in this unique opportunity, please

understand that we can accommodate

only a specific number of aircraft in this

deSignated area, so it has now

become

necessary to limit the number of type

clubs we can

accommodate

each year.

We also ask each of the type clubs

to

recognize that it is

important

to share

the wealth with this popular program,

and each club will take

turns

organiz

ing a group for display. Please be sure to

contact us at our main e-mail address:

vintageaircraft

@eaa

org

with

any ques

tions you may have.

To

date we have pledged type-club

parking space for

the

200S event to the

International Cessna 170 Association,

the Swift

Foundation,

the Taylorcraft

Foundation, and the

Bellanca-Cham

pion Club. Be sure to come join us for

all the fun .

Just a reminder, the "Friends of the

Red Barn" fund-raising campaign

is

now

in full swing. This campaign directly

finances all the various events

and

ex

hibits provided

to

the membership in

the Vintage area during AirVenture each

year. Please be sure

to

review the pro

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


4/36

Vintage E-Mail Address

Because

of

the

incredibly

high

volume

of

junk

e-mail

being

received

at

the

vintage

@e

aa.org e

mail address, as of April 1,

2005,

that address will be

shut

down and

replaced with a new e-mail address,

[email protected] . Please make

a

note

of it in your contacts list.

VAA Articles

One of the hi h l i h ts of

membership

in the VAA is the

ability to share information with

one another. We

do it

during

meetings and fly-ins, at EAA

AirVenture

Oshkosh, and here in

the pages of

Vintage Airplane.

I f

you

have something you think

would be of interest to your fellow

members,

why

not

turn

it into an

article?

We need technical

articles

and are

interested

in

historical

articles

as

well.

We don't

need

How

I

flew from the state of XYZ

to XGX airport

articles, nor is

there much interest in non-Vintage

related materials . I f

you're

not sure

if there

would

be interest, drop us

an e-mail

at

vintageaircraft@eaa.

org

or call us at 920-426-4825. Let

us

know

what

you'd

like to write

about, and

we'll

see if it matches

our

needs. Become famous-help

a fellow

member-become

a writer

for Vintage Airplane

Pitcairn Miss hampion

to

AirVenture:

Need

to

Know

Gates:

Open

at

8 a.m. Monday-Thursday

f

Open at 7 a.m . Friday-Sunday

Buildings and

Exhibits:

O S K O

S H

Open

at

9 a .m.

Admission Prices:

Price is the same as last year. EAA members receive significantly reduced

admission. Visit www.airventure.org/200S/planning/admission.html.

Where

Can

I

Stay?

Showp

l

ane camp

ing,

genera

l

aircraft camp

in g,

campgrounds,

dormitories, hotels, and more.

Visit www.airventure.org/200S/planning/wher

e_to_s

tay.html.

Air Shows:

Daily air shows begin at

3:30

p.m. Monday-Saturday; 2

p.m

.

on

Sunday

For

all this and more, visit the

EM

AirVenture website,

www.airventure

.

org

.

Camp

Scholler

Opens June 4

Instead

of

its tra ditional opening on

Ju

ly

1

starting th is year Camp

Scholler wi ll open and be ready

to

we

lcome E

AAe

rs 31 days befo re the

st art

of

EAA AirVen tu

re Osh

kosh. T

ha

t means campers who like to

ge

t in

early can mo

ve

in on June

24

.

The new schedu le sh ould help members make their Ai

rV

enture plan s

because the campground

wi ll

alw

ay

s open on a Frida

y Ca

mp

Sc

holler

is open to all

EA

A members. As in t he pas

t

t hose who e

sta

bl ish

campsi

t es on June

2 4

pay t hrough

the

end

of EAA

Air

Ve nt

ure, and

receive refunds if t hey depart before the fi nal day. For more information,

visit www

.airventure.org.

at the first good weather opportunity,

in plenty of time for EM AirVenture

Oshkosh, July 25-31. It will take about

three days

to cover

the 660 miles

from Trenton-Robbinsvil le Airport,

an appropriate final destination for

this important aviation artifact.

The Champion Spark Plug Co.

purchased

Miss Champion

new

in

1931, and

it

led that year's Ford

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/admission.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/admission.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/admission.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/admission.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/admission.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orgmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/admission.htmlhttp://www.airventure.org/200S/planning/where_to_stay.htmlhttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.orghttp:///reader/full/www.airventure.org


5/36

NOMINATING SOMEONE OR THE E VINTAGE HALL

O

FAME:

Note: To be consider

ed for in

duction into the

V

Hall

of

Fame during the next

ca

lendar year petitions MUST be

received by September

30th

of the current year.

I f

you wish

to

nominate an individual who you believe

ha

s

made

a significant

contribution to the

advancement of aviation between 1950 and

the

present day, please make a copy of the form below, fill it

out, add supporting material,

and

send it to: Charles W. Harris, VAA Hall of Fame,

P.O.

Box 470350, Tulsa,

OK 74147-0350

Be

as

thorough

and objective

as

possible. Attach copies of materials you deem appropriate and helpful

to the committee.

The person you

nominate

can be a citizen of any

country

and may be living or deceased . Their contri

bution could be in the areas of

fl

ying, design, mechanical or aerodynamic developments, administration,

writing, or some

other

vital, relevant field;

or

any

combination

of fields that

support

aviation.

E V I N T G E I R C R F T S S O C I T I O N

H L L

O F M E

N O M I N T IN G P E T IT IO N

Person nominated

for induction into the V Hall of

Fame:

Name:

__________

__________

____________________________________________

_________

Street: Phone Number: ________________________ _

City: State: Zip : __

Date of Birth:

I f

Deceased, Date of Death: _

Name and relationship of closest living relative. _

Address: Phone: _

Time span (dates) of the

nominee's contributions to

aviation:

M

ust be between 1950 to present day.) _

Area(s)

of contributions to

aviation:

Describe

the

event(s)

or

nature

of activities

the nominee has

undertaken

in aviation to

be worthy

of

induction

into the VAA Hall of Fame: _

Describe

other achievements the

nominee has made in

other

related fields in aviation:


6/36

PIPER WITH

A

PIPER

Here's a picture of

our

son, Shawn Piper.

He

soloed in

our

1942 J-3 Piper Cub on his 16th birthday, August 6, 2004. A

62-year-old Piper flown

by

a 16-year-old Piper.

David Piper

St.

Illinois

THE C SE

FOR

FR NKLIN

I always enjoy receiving

my

copy

of Vintage Airplane, as I have done

so since 1973.

I feel compelled

to

answer a state

ment attributed

to

Butch Walsh

in

Budd Davisson's article

on

Walsh's

Stinson (page 14, November 2004).

The 108 and 108-1 used the

ea

rlier

lS0-hp

light-cas

e

engine,

which is more prone to

problems

than

the later 16S-hp version used

in the 108-2 and -3 ."

First of all, there was no such

thing

as a

lS0-hp

light case.

The

150 Franklin didn t

have

any

cracking problems-the earlier

16Ss did I

refer

interested read

ers

to

Aircooled

Motors SB

NOlO,

dated 12-21-50, revised 6-3-52.

All

serial

number

engines No.

33046

and above

and/or

having casting

numbers

18905/18906

are con

sidered

to be improved

crank

cases. Many earlier light

case

165 engines (by

SN) had their

cases

replaced with the "improved" ver

FLEETWINGS

SE BIRD DDENDUM

Zachary Baugnman's

Vintage

r-

plane, August 2004) downplay of Jim

Reddig's contributions

to the

beauti

ful Fleetwings Seabird may be off the

mark. While it

is

true Fleetwings

had

a project going prior

to

Jim'

s arrival

there in 1934, it was

not

the Seabird,

according

to

company founder Carl

DeGanohl him

self. This earlier air

plane may have actually

been

built,

according to

a

uthor

Frank Clifford

FAA Aviation News,

January 1970).

Jim Reddig, in

correspondence

SO

years ago to longtime Seabird owner

Bud Oliver, sta ted that when he

ca

me on

board , Fleetwin gs aban

doned their project

and

started again

using his experience with Loening.

It

should be pointed out that although

the Seabird resembles

the Loaning

commuter lin

e,

it is a radically differ

ent engineered airframe. Fleetwings

had to design a

production

airplane

that

could be assembled using their

welded stainless

methods.

Further,

it was Fleetwings w ith Reddi

g)

that

gressive assembly process

that

left

little room for error. Nobody

knew

this

better than Channing

Clark.

Clark's airplane was a wreck when

he

acquired it,

and

his amazing res

toration

is a

tribute to

his skill

and

knowledge of

the

engineering devel

oped

in

the 1930s by Fleetwings (or

the Budd Co.).

Jim

Redding and ev

erybody I have found associated

with

Fleetwings truly believed that is was

Carl DeGanohl

who

was responsible

for the engineering innovations and

that the

Budd Co. was the enemy,

having stolen their work.

A

patent

search

seems

to show

just the opposite.

The

Budd

Co.

was a major industrial engineering

force in

the world at the

time. Now

known

as a

manufacturer

of rail

cars,

they were then heavily

into

the auto

and trucks parts supply

business. Budd is credited

with the

first all-steel

automobile

bodies ,

and what

we

now

call

spot weld

ing

is a process

that

Budd helped

develop. The patents of the '20s


7/36

REMINISCING

WITH

IG

NICK

My 3S-YEAR

LOVE AFFAIR PART

1

Reprinted om intage irplane September 974

Before I get carried away with

my love affair, I would like

to

take

this

opportunity to thank

you all

for the treasures of mail that have

reached me since the publication of

the Howard story.

The following letter is most pre

cious, and I felt it should be shared

with everyone:

Nick Rezich

All Photos Courtesy the Nick Rezich Collection

Again,

thank

you very much for

everything you wrote and feel.

Best personal regards,

(Signed) Mike Howard

(Mrs. Ben

O.

Howard)

As soon as the boss allows me a

stamp fund, I ll try to answer every

body. Many letters

contain

correc

Maybe by now you all will

under

stand why some misspelled names

sneak

in

This past June I made a five-day

whirlwind tour of California visiting

some old Howard Aircraft buddies

and family friends . My first stop was

the most significant and the highlight

of my trip. Sunday morning, June

9,


8/36

There she stood, my l

ove-a

majestic

lady

in

all her

pomp

and glory. The

last time I touched her was almost 30

years

ago

to the

day.

Wi

th

moist

eyes,

I walked up

and

laid a gentle

hand

on

the door latch and introduced my

wife of 23 years and mother of three

to

my

first love affair, a Culver Ca

det

that

I bought new 34 years ago,

NC20926, serial number 106.

Larry Low

had her

dressed

up in

the

latest fashion:

urethane paint

tinted one-piece windshield, carpet

ing, starter, generator, nav/comm,

ELT,

chrome gear, landing, nav and strobe

lights, plus one hell of a lot of tender

loving care.

After

34 years I could

not

find a wrinkle in her skin anywhere. I

thought I had a showstopper when I

owned it, but you should see it now

This fellow, Larry, has

put much

ef

fort, time, and money into this price

less jewel. Oh, sure, I made

him

an

offer-but

he quickly informed me of

others that are available ..but not my

love-at

any price

This whole affair started back

in

ing boards

in

a small pl

ant

located

in

Co

lumbus, Ohio.

The genius

behind the

slide rule

was

Al

Mooney, who was

known

to

many

in

the

industry as a bright, in

geniOUS

engineer.

THERE SHE SAT IN

FRONT OF TH

HANGAR

LIKE A

THOMPSON RACER

WAITING

FOR THE

STAR

T

ER

S

FLAG

TO DROP

When

Al

Mooney

announced

he

was

building a two-place airplane with

no

peekaboo. Before I left, I made a

deal with a friend of mine to send me

a snapshot of the prototype

as

soon

as

it

was

rolled out of assembly.

With

the

coming of fall

and

win

ter came

my

photo

...wow

When

I

saw what

that

little jewel looked like,

I made

up my

mind

right

then

and

there-I

had to have one I ordered

one without

even

having

a ride

in

one. The price was $2,475 . I received

the sixth one built, serial number 106,

NC20926. A blue and silver paint job

was stock.

The late Art Carnahan of Mono

coach fame was

the

area dealer,

and

he

delivered

my

new

Culver as far

as Joliet, IllinOis,

where

the

snow

stopped him. I drove in a snowstorm

to Joliet to pick

up

Art

and

view

my

new jewel. There she sat

in

front of

the

hangar

like a

Thompson

racer

waiting

for

the starter's

flag

to drop

I don't think I knew what the word

thrille

meant until that cold evening

in

Joliet

when

I

opened

the

cabin

door and tried that Culver on for

size.


9/36

Nick

and

a friend

indulging in

a little clowning

for

the

photographer.

The insignia

is

that o the

Illinois

State

Militia

. Nick

once flew missions

for

the Militia

into

flood ravaged downstate Illinois landing on roads to deliver blood to hospitals.

ton, Illinois, his hometown.

My first flight in the new Cadetwas

two weeks later, when the weather

cleared. Up to

that

time, I had been

flying Travel Airs, Pitcairns, a Laird,

Bellancas, Stinsons, Porterfields, Rear-

wins, Cubs, and Howards, and from

what Art told me none of the above

flew

like the Cadet. My brother helped

me roll it out of the hangar, preflight

it, and cranked me.

As I taxied out, I tried to remem

ber everything Art had told me about

the Cadet's handling. If felt good and

solid while taxiing, and when I got to

the runway, I was ready. I set the tab

at zero and poured

the

coal on. The

takeoff was smooth and straight.

I left

the pattern

and

started to

climb to altitude for some turns and

stalls.

In

the next 20 seconds I learned

all about the Culver's sensitive flip

pers. I reached up to trim it for climb

so I could concentrate on the gear

re-

traction. Well When I gave the trim

Howell's airport on t

he

south side of

Chicago, where I was to keep it . As

the airport came into sight, I dropped

the

nose

and

let it boil. I

went

over

the

office, indicating 170

mph,

and

this brought everyone out, so I did it

again,

fo

llowed by a steep, climbing

turn. I was really getting my jollies

I dropped

the

gear, checked

the

lock,

and

started in to

land

on the

1,800 feet of solid runway the Cubs

were using. With that gang out there

watching, I couldn't afford to goof the

first landing. I dragged it in and put

it on three points, using about 1,200

feet. The roll-out was like a Cub. I tax

ied in, shut down, and stepped out . .

the hero of the airport I had the fast

est, newest, cleanest, most advanced

airplane

on

the airport.

I flew that little airplane all over

the country until I went into the ser

vice in June 1944. My biggest mainte

nance bill was for wax. I would wax it

every weekend before flying it.

a cab and announced he's come

to

pick up

the

Cadet. We went through

the whole scene again, only this time

he

added

the

green: He started peel

ing off

the

big ones, and when

he

had $3,500 lying there, I changed my

mind and said, "Okay, it's yours " He

still had a fist full left and was willing

to part wi th it.

I asked

him

if he wanted to go

throu

gh

the logbooks and look the

plane

over. He answered, "Hell, I

know this airplane as well as

you

do " I had raced this

airplane

and

never los

t to

anyone,

thanks to

the he lp of "Sludge" Doyle and his

"Offy" factory. I had a real hot rod-I

was putting out 90 hp with a super

thin

Freedman-Burnham prop. That

is

why this

fe

ll

ow knew all about

my

Cadet-he

had

kept track of it and

wanted it for

the

speed.

He turned

to

Willie and said, "Fill

it up."

He

paid the gas bill, threw his

bag in the back, and said, "Give me a


10/36

DOUG STEW RT

Patterns

n the sky

I was flying

some

pattern work

the other

day in my Super Cruiser.

Sharing the pattern

with me

was another pilot in an

Aeronca

Champ.

The airport was

a

mid

size, nontowered county

airport,

serving a large variety

of

aircraft.

In

the pattern at

this a

irport

, it

is

not uncommon to find

small

tailwheel aircraft, as well

as many

of your

typical

general

aviation

(GA)

training aircraft,

an

assort

ment

of corporate

and

air-taxi air

craft

ranging

from

light twins up

through

King Airs,

to

a handful of

G4s

and

their

brethren,

all

burn

ing kerosene and missing propel

lers. Added

to the

traffic mix

is an

occasional helicopter.

Because this airport

has

some

of

the

lowest 100LL fuel prices for

miles

around,

it

is

not

unusual

to

have

numerous

aircraft

approach

ing

from all

corners of

the

com

pass. I f ever there were

a

place

chaos to

rule. And it

would

seem

that many

pilots

are

oblivious to

what

those procedures are.

This

particular

day

was

one of

those.

Let

me share

with

you an

experi

ence I had that day.

To

begin with,

I

heard

the fol

lowing

announcement

on

the

CTAF (common

traffic

advisory

frequency). Columbia County

traffic, N12345" (I'll use fictitious

tail numbers

for this

article),

"is

on

a

4-mile final

for

Runway

3.

ny

other

tr ffi c ple se dvise .

Well my

immediate

thoughts were

for

the safety

of

the pilot in

the

Champ. He was in a NaRDO

(no

radio)

airplane. Not only

was

he

unaware of the aircraft out there

on the straight-in

final,

but

he

also was

certainly

un ble to advise

the pilot of

the inbound aircraft.

So here

were

two pilotsoblivious

of each other.

I really

wasn't too

worried

about

However,

the

other pilot in

bound on the straight-in final was

certainly ignorant of that

rather

slow airplane in front of

me

in

the

pattern.

By

the

time

the Champ

was about

to

make the base-to-fi

nal

turn,

the other aircraft might

be

about

to

share that

exact

same

piece of airspace real estate. After

all, I

didn't know what

kind

of

aircraft

was out there on the "4

mile final." Because

the pilot an

nounced only

his tail

number,

I

had

no clue as

to whether

he

was

one of those sleek Gulfstreams fly-

ing a final

at

120 knots, a Bonanza

coming

at

us a little

more

slowly,

or perhaps even

one

of the

many

new light-sport aircraft arriving

at

something

more akin to the

Champ's

approach

speed.

I

couldn't

just fly along keeping

silent on my

own

radio. I felt I had

a responsibility here. This

person

who

was arriving straight

in might


11/36

any lights

on the

old Aeronca. For

not

only did that airplane not have

a radio,

but it

also

had no

equip

ment

whatsoever installed that re

lied on electricity, other than the

synapses

going

on

in

the

brain

of

the

pilot in

command

of that won

derful

classic airplane.

I t didn't

have a radio, it

didn't

have lights,

and

it

didn't

have a transponder.

For

the

brand spankin' new col

lision

avoidance

equipment in

stalled

in the inbound

aircraft

to

work, it required a transpon

der signal from the conflict

ing

traffic. No

signal no

warning. And with no warning,

would

our arriving pilot,

who

was counting

on his state-of

the-art equipment to keep him

safe, be aware

that

he

was

about

to mate with another aircraft

of much older vintage? I t is

one

thing for Eagles

or

Hawks

to

have mid-air

entanglements

for the

purpose of procreating

their species,

but when

two air

craft have a mid-air meeting, it

is likely

that the only

prolifera

tion

will be

of airplane

pieces

and

parts across

the

ground.

Because

the

only

thing

I wanted

to see on the ground, extending

out

on the

final approach path,

were

the

sequenced flashing lights

of

the

approach

light

system,

and

not

a

mix

of Ceconite, spruce,

aluminum, and

body

parts, my

thumb

quickly

pushed the push

to-talk switch

on

my

stick,

and

I

announced:

Columbia

County

traffic, red and cream tail dragger is

slower one. The difference

in

final

approach

airspeeds

between

these

two aircraft

was

about

35

knots.

From

my position

I

could not

tell

whether

or not the

MaJibu

had

any

lights

on.

Had I

not

made

my

announcement,

would the pilot of

the Malibu have seen

the Champ?

Who

knows? Perhaps

not, and

two

fine aircraft

might have been

de

stroyed,

not to

mention the pilots

and

passengers

on

board.

Perhaps the

other pilot might

be relying more

on

his ears than

his eyes for

collision

avoidance.

Let's look

at

the several lessons

to

be

learned

from

this

incident.

To

begin with, we have

to

be aware

that despite incredible strides

in

technology,

the

greatest device for

detecting

other

airplanes, particu

larly

in

the

traffic

pattern,

is

our

own

two eyes. I will not

deny

that

radios

and the

various

TIS

systems

can

assist

our

scan. In fact, in

this

incident it might very

well have

been my CTAF announcement that

ment

of

Class E and G airspace. I f

I

am

close enough

to

another air

plane to read its tail number, I will

be way

too

close, at least for my own

personal comfort. In radio commu

nication with air traffic control, tail

numbers are

essential.

But in

the

traffic

patterns of our

non towered

airports, knowing

what

type of air

craft

is making a position report

makes the visual

identification

of

that

aircraft

much

easier.

When

I

hear

yellow Sky

hawk

on

downwind, I know

what

to

look

for.

When

I

hear

N12345, I

haven't

a clue

what

I am

looking

for. And be aware

that

Cessna 12345

doesn't

re

ally help me

much

more. Is that

Cessna

a 120

or

a Citation?

Just

slight differences

in

perfor

mance

I

would

say.

I f

a Cessna

120

is 10 to

the east, inbound

for

landing,

I

could probably

fly at

least

three

patterns

before

having

to start

looking for it.

On

the other

hand,

if it's a Cita

tion

that

is

10 out,

inbound,

I

might want to

hold short.

As for the Malibu flying

a

straight-in,

4-mile final,

I

won't

necessarily say

that it was

im

proper procedure.

I t is

permissible

per

the

regulations. And

there

are

certainly times

when

it can be,

and

is, a safe way

to approach

a

non

towered airport.

But

i f

we are fly

ing a

long,

straight-in

approach,

we are definitely increasing th e

risk factors

not only

for ourselves,

but also for

every

other airplane

that might be

sharing

the pattern.


12/36

metimes it's difficult

to

de

cide which is most interesting:

an

airplane's erratic passage

through history, the passion

that an airplane engenders in an indi

vidual, a blow-by-blow accounting of

a problematic restoration, or the thrill

of slaying a paperwork dragon to get

the airplane certificated. In the case of

the Stamsta family Falco, the tales are

so closely interwoven that the telling

two-room

1890

schoolhouse his

parents converted to a house where

he

was raised. Right from the begin

ning

it was obvious he'd look at life

a little differently.

My

mother, he

said, is a fiber

artist

who

works in weaving

and

pa

per. She even makes

her

own paper,

and it's not unusual to see her wading

around in vats of paper pulp. I guess

that

kind of hands-on creative think

why I decided I wanted

to

fly. it's

just always been there.

In

fact, al

most as soon as I started getting into

aviation I discovered the Falco,

and

that's the first

true

airplane I ever

actually wanted.

The

Falco was, and is, a legend

ary design by Italian designer Stelio

Frati. Stelio is renown for his ability

to design

aircraft that are works of

art

and

that

fly

even better than they


13/36

At

the time Marc discovered the

Falco,

he

was

just dipping his toes into

aviation by starting out in ultralights.

"Since I was 19 I

had

been build

ing wooden canoes and kayaks and

had worked a lot in fiberglass. This

morphed into

a side business build

ing dune buggies, and I traded a dune

buggy for a weight-shift Quicksilver

ultralight. I didn't

know how to fly,

but little by little I taught myself the

basics

and

pretty

soon

was flying it

quite a bit.

"In 1982 I decided to go for my

private pilot license,

so

I did a

bunch

12 years old

now and

calls herself my

'pilot girl.' My other daughter, Tobie,

likes horses and

spends

more time

with

her mom and

the horses, but

Maya and I fly a lot. We love taking

our little Cessna 120 out camping."

Having a family

and

all

the

associ

ated medical expenses caused Marc to

reprioritize life.

I

couldn't do this loose craftsman

thing

any

more. I had to find a regu

lar job that had medical insurance,

so I started working with a CNC op

eration.

I did that for six years and

learned a lot that helped me in later

of self-studying

and -:-. . . . ----

passed

the

written first

time around. Then I

went to

Texas

and in

14

days flew 40 hours and

passed my checkride."

While

Marc

was

courting

aviation

he

was also courting

and

eventually marrying

his wife, Gail,

and

life

began to change.

"We had two daugh

ters, Maya

and

Tobie, and almost

immediately we got a rude intro

duction

into

parenthood.

Most people go through life taking

an enormous

amount

for granted

and

never truly get a handle on who they

are or what they place value on. Marc

and Gail, however, learned

that

early.

"Maya was a baby,

and

they dis

covered she

had

a brain

tumor and

wasn't likely to live. When someone

tells you your daughter won't live an

other hour, instantly everything you

years with airplanes."

His wife, Gail, has always been his

strongest supporter, and when she

got a solid job

teaching

school with

all

the

benefits, Marc was

instantly

back making things with his hands.

"I sought out

Bill

Scheunemann at

Scheunemann

Aviation Products in

Juneau, Wisconsin

www.woodwings.

com).

He builds wood wings, specifi

cally wing kits for

the

One Design and

Pitts Model 12. I guess because I knew

what a gusset was, he hired me," Marc

laughed. "Also, I knew how to run his

"Gar said to

Bill,

'I hear you have

someone up there who would like

to have a Falco; if you aren't too far

along building yours, stop right now '

He was talking about me."

I t turned out that Gar had

the

damaged

airframe

of

a factory-built

Falco, only the second one to be im

ported into the country in

addition

to the one Alfred Scott at Sequoia

had. Gar

was

the latest

in

a

long

string of owners.

"This airplane

is

serial number 212,

although there were only 75 built,"

said Marc, and the Europeans really

don't like to see

them

leave the country. They

stopped building

them

in 1960,

and there

are

seven flying over there

and eight in museums.

They consider them na

tional treasures.

"The original buyer

of

the airplane was

an

ex-Luftwaffe pilot

who

really loved

the

airplane

and

flew it 800 hours. I have some of

his old tires, however, and

he

wore

them right down to the cords before

replacing

them ,

and

I think that's

what

caused his accident.

"In 1974 he landed and had a flat

tire. The airplane has only one brake

pedal that actuates

both

brakes at

the

same time.

So,

when

he lost

the

tire,

the airplane

got

sideways. The nose

gear folded,

which

crushed the bot

tom

of

the cowling, and one

of

the

mains punched a hole

in the

wing."

The airplane was definitely repair

http://www.woodwings/http://www.woodwings/


14/36

when other cargo crushed its relatively

to afford this

airplane.

I could

barely afford my little Cessna 120.

By this time I was managing a ski

slope during the winter and do

ing stained glass

and

helping Bill

Scheunemann

during the

sum

mer, and the Falco was worth

far

more

than

I could come up with.

Besides, I knew Gar had a check

from a European for $60,000 just

the way it was.

What Marc

didn't

know was

that

Gar really wanted

to

see

the

airplane fly again and wanted to

see Marc Stamsta get it.

lilt turned out that the other

buyer was

planning on

parting

the airplane

out

in Europe where

he would make far

more

than

the

$60,000 he paid,

and

this re-

ally bothered Gar. He knew how

badly I wanted

the

airplane,

but

I told

him

I'd never be able to

af-

ford it. Then he did

something

I

couldn't believe.

He knew how important it

was for me to fly. I

h ve

to

fly;

it's

as simple as that, and I had the 120 at

Marc tamsta

no rot, Marc said. liThe airplane had

been in dry storage all its life,

but

be

sides the original accident damage and

shipping

damage, a

lot

of stuff was

gone or destroyed. Many parts of

the

airplane, like the dorsal fin and the

fairings, are pretty fragile. They are

made of laminated 1/32-inch veneer,

so it can't survive rough handling, and

I had to make entirely new ones.

Most of the major structure, like

the fuselage

longerons

and wing

spars, were in

great

shape, but the

skins

in many

areas were split or bro

ken. The bottom of the cowl and the

nosebowl were badly crunched,

and

the windshield was broken, although

the

canopy

itself was still usable, al

though it was crazed in

the

comers.

li he interior was in shreds, and

much

of it was missing. The interior

of a Falco

is

actually glued to the ul

tra-thin 1/32 plywood that is glued

to the inside of the fuselage

as

part of

the

structure, and most of that ply

wood

was missing. The seat frames

were there,

and

fortunately the rear

seat and single belt were also there.

Only a few Falcos were built with the

child seat in the back that would ac

commodate a 66-pound child.

Marc's background in building

ca-


15/36

keeping

the

airplane original.

I'm much more comfortable with

wood than I am with metal,

but

this

airplane forced me to

learn

a lot

of

new skills. The cowling, for instance,

had me using a shot bag and English

wheel, but I was able to save it all

without using Bondo.

I'd never worked Plexiglas, and

the

windshield

turned

out to be dif

ferent

than

Alfred's airplane in that it

wasn't a flatwrap. It had a slight com

pound

curve to it, so we

made up

a

mold

and

heat-formed

the

Plexiglas

over it. I had to do

the

same

thing

for

the nav light lenses in

the

wingtips.

From the time when Marc first

started speaking with Gar about

the

airplane, FAA paperwork was a major

part of every conversation. The Falco,

although theoretically certificated

in

the United States, was a victim

of

a

classic Catch-22 situation.

Part of the type certificate said

the airplane had to be inspected by a

representative of

the FAA

during con

struction to ensure

that

it conformed

to the TC for it to be granted a stan

dard airworthiness certificate

in

the

U.S.

The catch was

that the

type cer

tificate wasn't issued until 1961,

and

the airplanes went out of production

in 1960, so there was

no

way

that re-

quirement could be met.

Alfred Scott had run up

against

this with his airplane,

and

after fight

ing

the

Feds for a long time, gave

up

and put

the airplane in Experimen

tal-Exhibition,

Group

1 category.

Gar was convinced I could get it into

standard category, and

that

became

is

that there is no real reason

for

them

to want to

help

you with it. The at

titude in some places, especially after

9/11, is that

the

world really doesn't

need a certified, 240-mph, Italian two

place airplane, and to a certain extent,

you can see their

logic.

I called Bill Coppernoll in the

Milwaukee FSDO, and he was already

familiar with my problem because of

my

ski

patrol contact.

Fortunately,

Bill's primary F job is certifying

foreign aircraft

that

come

into

the

U.S. for

commercial

purposes. For

instance, he's worked

on

aircraft like

the

Short Skyvan.

So,

we were talking

about

an

area with

which he

was re

ally familiar.

It's seldom a private airplane owner

with

a severe certification

problem

like Marc's

who

stumbles

on

the

right

person at the F at the

right

time,

but

this was clearly

the

case with Bill

Coppernoll.

He came up to look at

the

airplane,

and

as he walked past

it, he

reached

out and

petted it. It was at

that

exact

moment that I knew I stood a chance

of making this work.

He

looked at me

and

said, 'Why

isn't this

a certified

airplane?'

and

I explained the prob

lem. He

then

said, 'This is why you

pay your taxes, to get guys like me to

work these things out.'

Bill said there

had

been a subtle

change in the foreign type certifica

tion

process,

and in the

case

of

the

Falco, i f I could prove beyond a

shadow

of

a

doubt that

the airplane

conformed exactly to the

type

cer

tificate, as it was originally issued

in

I had to find the operations and

maintenance

manual and have it

translated, but when I tried that, it

turned out that the translators didn't

know

anything

about technical stuff

and wouldn't certify

that

it was cor

rect, so I had to find

an

engineer, who

translated it and notarized it as being

correct. Then I had to do

the

same

thing with the pilot's operating hand

book, only it was in German. Then I

had to find paperwork that tracked the

airplane's exportation to Germany and

then from Germany to here.

Bill's attitude was,

If the

airplane

was being built today, I'd be

the

FAA

rep inspecting it for the type certifi

cate, and all I would be asking was

whether it conformed to everything

mentioned in

the

type certificate.'

As it

happens, my airplane

was

custom built for the

German

owner

with a fixed-pitch prop, while

the

type

certificate calls for a Hartzell constant

speed prop mounted on a [Lycoming]

0-320-A1A

so I had to modify my

airplane

to that

configuration.

While I was going through this, I

had

any

number

of

experienced peo

ple tell me it

couldn't

be

done, but

because of

Bill

Coppernoll's direction

and the help of a lot of other people,

we made it work. Along the way I met

some really interesting people,

and

it

was exciting to be talking to Italy one

day, Germany

the

next,

and

working

with

the

translators.

Along

the way I came to really

appreciate

our

own government.

We

may complain about how slowly they

handle

paperwork,

but compared


16/36

TYPE

CLU

NOTES

Removing and installing a prop on a ontinental tapered-shaft

engine from

the Luscombe and

Cub Club newsletters

Bob Gehring and Steve Krog

Vintage

Editor s Note: Bob

Gehring

and Steve Krog have

done the vintage community a great service by carefu lly

put-

ting these

proce

dures together

in

an easy

to understand man-

ner. Let

there

be

no

more damaged prop hubsf HGF

Have you ever rummaged through the many piles

of used parts at a typical fly market

and

spotted a prop

hub

for a tapered-shaft

Continental

engine? For those

of

you

with a

tapered-shaft engine, you may think

you ve just found a jewel among the junk and can t

wait to begin bartering for the hub.

But upon closer inspection, the hub appeared to

have

been used as a

battering

ram at some point

in

its long life. The prop hub nut is beaten

and

battered,

and if

you

had a straight edge in your pocket,

you d

probably

find

that

neither the inner nor the outer

face plates of the prop hub would

be

flat. The

prop

hub

nut is probably

unusab

le And these

hubs

are get

ting hard to find Especially at a reasonable price.

All of this battering or

hammering

was unnecessary,

had the previous owner used the correct procedures for

removing or installing the hub in the first place.

The following information and photos will explain

how to properly remove

and

install

a

tapered-shaft

prop hub without

doing

damage to it. Those of you

with

a lot of experience in hub removal and replace

ment

may have

other

procedures that you follow.

And, if so, we'd like to hear from you.

After

removing the skullcap spinner remove the

spinner

mounting bracket.

Then remove

the AN3 safety-lock bolt.

This

is

usua lly an AN3 bolt held in place

with

an elastic

stop

nut

.

Now, insert a S/8-inch by 4-inch Grade 8 bolt (or a

high-strength steel rod of the approximate same dimen

sions) through the large round locking nut on the hub .

We like to use a bolt because the bolt head helps prevent

slipping when applying pressure to the locking nut. Slide

a 30- to 36-inch piece of 3/4 inch pipe over the length of

the exposed bolt.


17/36

The Grade 8 boH

has

been inserted from the lower right to

the upper

left

position

in the

hub nut, and a 30-inch length

of -inch pipe has been slipped over the extended portion

of

the boH. This position is used for

ease in

applying down

ward

pressure

on

the

pipe to loosen

the

hub nut.

pipe

to

break

the nut

loose}

turning the nut no

more

than about

one-quarter to one-half

turn.

As you face

the prop hub}

turn

the locking nut counterclockwise.

Before proceeding further} look directly

into the

prop hub and locate the large

retaining snap

ring.

I t

should be about 1 4

inch

inside of the outer hub ring.

Insert a snap ring retention device see retention de

vice description below) into the

open

gap of the

snap

ring. This

is

important.

If

you do

not

do this}

the

pres

sure that will be applied to loosen the locking nut will

force the

snap

ring to

pop

free. Should this

happen

}

stop Pop the snap ring back into place before proceed

ing

any

further. The snap ring must remain in place

during prop hub removal to help

pop

the hub free of

the crankshaft. If you do

not

do this} the hub

nut

sim

ply turns free and can be removed from the prop hub}

leaving the

hub

firmly attached

to

the

crankshaft.

We use a small

homemade

tool to keep the snap ring

in place. I t was made from a scrap piece of .090-inch

chromoly steel approXimately 3 inches long} tapered

and slightly bent into an arc to fit in the snap ring slot.

With the

snap

ring reten

tion

tool in place} proceed

with rotating

the

pipe exten

sion

handle

counterclock

wise}

which was slid over the

4-inch

steel

bolt

inserted in

the prop

hub

locking nut. As

you rotate the pipe extension

handle

through approximate ly two to two-and-a-half

turns}you should feel the prop hub pop. It

is

now free

of the

tapered shaft

and can easily be slid off of the

crankshaft when

the

prop

hub

locking nut is turned all

the way out to the end of the threads.

NOTE If

you do

not

feel

the prop

hub

pop

free after

two to two-and-a-half turns} STOP It will be necessary

to tap on the hub to help break it free.

To

break the

prop

hub free without

doing any

dam

age

to

the prop hub locking nut remember the hub

you

spotted

at the fly

market and

how it was bat

tered and bent

on

the

end)} insert a length of solid

steel shaft inside the prop hub locking

nut.

The steel

shaft

we used was

machined

from a piece of

1-

;

-inch

stock approximately 4

inches long

. About .600 inch

of

one end

was machined down to approximately

l.SS-inch diameter to fit snugly inside

the

prop hub

nut. It

should

slide into the

hub

nut} with the shoul

der of the 4-inch steel

shaft mating

flush with

the

flat

surface of the

hub

nut and should not

bottom out

against the crankshaft end.

The snap

ring retention

tool

has

been inserted

into

the

snap ring opening and

the

pipe exten

sion

is

in

place.

The

prop

hub nut

is now

ready

to

be

rotated counterclockwise approximate

ly

two

to two-and-a-half

turns.


18/36

While

applying light pressure

to the back side of the

prop in·

sert

the

steel shaft into

the

hub nut and tap lightly

with

either a

ru

bber mallet or lead

hammer.

The light pressure

prevents

the

crankshaft journals rom banging against the engine

case

when

applying

the

light

tapping

to

the

inserted steel

shaft.

Once the hub

has

popped free and the

hub

nut turned

counterclockwise until

free

of

the crankshaft threads the

prop can be

guided

off the

shaft.

the threads on

the

crankshaft,

and with

a firm grip on

the

prop,

gent

ly guide

the

prop and prop hub off

the

tapered shaft.

You ve

now removed the

prop hub

without doing

any damage.

Prop Hub

Installation

Before installing the prop and prop hub

on

the tapered

crankshaft, inspect the crankshaft and the prop

hub

for

dirt and corrosion. Old grease, dirt, etc., can easily be re-

moved using a good cleaning agent such

as

lacquer thin

ner or mineral spirits; a 3M cleaning pad;

and

a good.

clean cot ton rag.

Caution:

If

using lacquer thinner, be careful to

not

splash

it

on

the nosebowl, the outer surfaces of the prop hub, or

the prop itself, for it will also remove paint and varnish,

allowing a place for corrosion or wood rot to start.

Once the tapered crankshaft and the inner prop

hub

have been thoroughly inspected and cleaned, use a light

lubricant, such

as

3-in-l oil, to completely lubricate the

entire surface of each. Do not use an excess of the light

lubricant. More

is

not

better in this case, as

any

excess

will be slung out, causing unsightly streaks

on

the back

and front hub plates.

With both

surfaces

cleaned and

lightly lubricated,

you can now start the installation process. Begin by first

locating the locking keyway on the tapered shaft. With a

firm grip on the prop, locate the mating keyway slot on

the hub and position the prop in front of the shaft, align

ing

the hub

keyway with the shaft keyway.

Slide the aligned prop

and

prop hub onto the shaft.

Don t force it. It should slide freely onto the shaft. Then

start the prop

hub

locking

nut

and finger-tighten it.

Snug

down

the locking

nut

using the 4-inch

long

Grade 8 bolt used to loosen the prop hub nut and the

30- to 36-inch length of pipe. Do

not

overtighten at this

point; just snug it firmly.

Now it

is

time to properly tighten the

hub

locking

nut

to the correct 200 to 225 foot-pounds of torque pressure.

This

is

the one step

that is

most often

done

incorrectly

when installing a tapered shaft prop hub, as most people

don t have the correct tools for executing. Rather, they ll


19/36

The

installation

of

the

prop hub

is

now complete,

and

torque values are accu

rate,

assuring

long life for

that valuable tapered shaft

prop h ub. However,

the

job

We use

another homemade

is

not yet finished.

Now is also a

good

t ime

tool for correctly torqu

to

check

and

re-torque th e

ing

the

prop

hub

nut as it

prop bolts. Remember, with

does require

200

to

225

the seasonal changes in tem

foot-pounds of torque for

peratures and humidity,

th

at

proper

installation.

This

beautiful and

expens

ive)

tool is made using a 112

wooden prop

shrinks

and

inch drive 1-1I16-inch

swells accordingly, req

ui

ring

socket. Aflat washer used

re-torquing of the prop bolts.

for rigidity

,

is

welded

over

Remove all cotter pins

the open socket end.

Then

from the six prop bolts two

a

5/S-inch diameter

hole is

were already removed when

drilled completely through

the skullcap spinner and spin

the socket.

ner-mounting

bracket were

removed), and loosen all n uts. Insta

ll

the spinner bracket,

and snug the nuts, holding it in place to finger -tight.

The specially designed hub

socket

has been

inserted

into

the hub locking nut

and

the Grade S bolt inserted through

the

nut and

socket.

This setup allows for properly torquing

the

hub

nut

using a torque wrench .

Using the

proper method

for re-torquing

the prop

bolts, begin torquing the bolts to the desired 16 to 19

foot-pounds. Again, use the step-up method, begi

nning

The

special socket

is

in

place and correct torque values

are now applied to the

hub

nut.

This is an over

head view of the

four special tools

we

made

and use

when removing

and installing prop

hubs

on

tapered

shaft

Continental

engines.

•

The

item at

left

is

the

4-inch

by

I

314-inch

solid

steel

rod

with

one end

machined down

to

I I12-inch. Machine down approxi

mately 314

-

inch

of

the

end of

the rod. This

is

the

portion that will

be

inserted

into the

hub

nut

and should not

bottom out

against

the

end of the crankshaft.

• The second item is the

SIS-inch

by 4-inch Grade S

bolt.

• The

third

item is the special tool

made

from .Ogo-inch

chro

moly stock

inserted into

the snap ring gap.

•

The final item is the 1I2-inch drive

I 1I16-inch

socket with

a

flat

washer

welded

over

one end.

A

SIS-inch

hole is

drilled through

the socket.


20/36

nce upon a time, round

radial engines

were

kings.

They spun

mas

sive props that chewed

through the skies, pulling aircraft

on

a

mission. By

anyone s

defini-

tion

they

were

big

airplanes,

and

their

pilots

needed

a

certain

com-

bination of

muscle

and finesse to

steer them through the air. Flying

these aircraft was a luxury for those

whose time meant something.

MY LABODA

Beech Aircraft (Beech craft in

the

days when N5959F was manufac-

tured) was and still is considered

to

be one of the premier providers of ex

ecutive transportation in

the

world.

Standing tall

on

factory-installed tri

cycle gear, N5959F was one of

the

last 37 Beech Super H18s off

the

as

sembly line at the factory in Wichita,

Kansas,

and one

of only 20 built in

1965. Climbing aboard the airplane

is to travel

back

to the era of

the

lished by the Twin Beech 18 Soci

ety, a division of

the Staggerwing

Museum Foundation Inc.,

located

in Tullahoma, Tennessee. The win

terization kit, integral oxygen, and

air conditioning

account

for the ad

ditional weight.

With

the

Pratt

Whitney

Wasp

Junior

R-985 engines drinking from

318

gallons

of usable avgas

at 42

gph, at 65 percent power it'll cruise

at 190

mph

for more than 1,000


21/36

Left: From the

Travel

Air to

the

Staggerwing

and beyond,

to

the Twin

Beech 18 and now the

Bonanza

and

Baron,

the

Staggerwing Foundation's

home in Tullahoma has

grown

to

become

a

must-

visit

aviation destination.

Tullahoma,

Tennessee. e

roared

down the

narrow airpark s 3,200

foot

runway and lifted

off

with

room to spare, even

though the

Beech was loaded

with

four adults,

two English bulldogs,

and

food and

clothing for the weekend. Climbing

through a low overcast to its cruis

ing altitude of

6,000 feet

in

just a

few minutes, the airplane settled in

for

the

long haul. But there

wasn t

much settling to

do.

The plush

leather seats begged sitting in,

and

the five-place

layout

left plenty of

stretch-out room to get

comfort

able for the 4.S-hour journey from

Right:

One

of the manyTwin Beech

18s that come to the annual family

gathering

in Tullahoma,

Tennessee

South Florida to Tennessee.

An

intercom

aids

communica

tion between those in front

and

in

back, so those

behind

don t need

to unbuckle and lean forward . Not

that you

could

not

do

so , just to

stretch your legs. The cabin height

is adequate (and positively spacious

for

someone

of

my

build-I

cou

ld

stand up

straight from mid-cabin to

the cockpit).

With

standard head

sets, the noise was nominal in back

and a bit higher

in the

cockpit,

which

is perfectly aligned

with

the

three-blade props. It s easy to see

why owners Chris and Lisa Kelley,

of Fort Myers, Florida,

chose the

Beech Super

HI8

over a late-model


22/36

MY L BOD PHOTOS

Like the new Bonanza-Baron hangar,

the Twin Beech

18

Owner

s

Soc

i

ety

hangar is an

integral part

of the

Staggerwing Museum complex in

Tullahoma

Tennessee.

During the

annual

get-together the

hangar

floor

doubled

as a banquet

facility.

today. N5959F

is one of

few

that

are,

to date, unrestored and the

only

unrestored

Super H18

to

at

tend the

2004 Beech Party

reunion

on

the

Tullahoma Regional Airport.

Starting with

the

Beech

airplane

i t

was named for, the Staggerwing

Museum

has

grown

in

the

past 30

years

to encompass hangars

dedi

cated to

the Beech 18, Travel Air,

and

Bonanza-Baron.

"This

museum

grew

out of

the

hopes

and

dreams of a small group

of people

who

all shared a passion

for

the

Staggerwing," said Lorraine

Carter,

the

museum's executive di

rector. "For 27 of its 31 years, the

museum, which

now

encompasses

three

hangars,

the

original

cabin,

and

the

Olive

Ann

Beech Chapel,

was

run

completely by volunteers,

and

just look

what

they

accom

plished, she

said,

sweeping

her

arm

out

to pOint across

the

room at

the

vast array of aircraft on perma

nent

display.

Carter's favorite

part

of

the

mu

seum

hous

es

no

aircraft at all. The

Louise

Thadden

Library

occupies

the

cabin

that

was

the entirety

of

the

original museum, Carter ex

plained as we s

tep through

a low

doorway and into

a theatrically lit

room

full

of trophies

,

newspaper


23/36

Our

beautiful magic carpet from the GuH Coast

to

Tullahoma

was

thi

sTwin

Beech Super

H18

owned

and

flown

by

Chris and

Lisa

Kelley The unrestored tri-

gear

Beech

was the onlymodel H

present

at this year's

convention.

Ninety-Nines, said Carter. But we

sure wish

they'd

loan it

to

us so

we

could

show

it off

with

our Travel

Air

collection, she said.

Harold Bost is

president of

the

Bonanza-Baron

Museum

Founda

tion,

and

he led me down a narrow

concrete

path

to its spacious, newly

opened

9,OOO-square-foot hangar.

This

museum

was always on the

long-term

planning

of

B.J.

McCla

nahan,

the

founder of

the

American

Bonanza Society

(ABS),

said Bost.

John Parrish,

one

of

the

founders

of

the

Staggerwing Museum, spoke

to me about Tullahoma, but I wasn't

sure because thought,

who

will

come here? When learned

about

the

... Staggerwings

and

Beech 18s

already in this great facility,

then

I

knew

that

Tullahoma was

the

right

place

to bring this museum.

Now

Tullahoma

is

quickly becoming the

Beech

museum.

And best

of

all, if

you are a

member

of the Stagger

ground on another

9,OOO-square

foot hangar

to house

its

growing

collection.

Barons

and

Bonanzas have been

coming

to the

Beech Party for a de

cade or

two, as

have

members

of

the

Twin Beech 18 Society.

All

three

organizations hold their meetings

along with

the Staggerwing Own

ers Society

meetings

in the muse

um's Olive

Ann

Beech Chapel dur

ing

the

three-day Beech Party. The

meetings are

informative

gather

ings,

where owners swap

stories,

mechanical heartaches, and, of

course, solutions.

Twin Beech 18 Society President

Ron Hyde said

the

challenge is col

lecting original manufacturing data

on all the Beech 18s from the salt

mines

outside

of Wichita, where

Beech

stores

them. The group

is

also compiling a complete record of

every STC

approved

for the Beech

18, and it has

more

than 50 in its

T

wi

n Beech 18

Society

Pre

sid

ent Ron Hyde.

owners for years. Late-model Beech

18s, such as N5959F, are less suscep

tible

to the

wing spar deterioration

and

cracking because those models

wear

an

improved wing spar cap.

With

the

arrival

of the

sun on

the

second day, more aircraft from

across the

nation arrived

for

the

Beech Party. N5959F

stood proud

at the

head of

the

line of Beech 18s

that spanned

decades

of produc

t ion-a

run

that produced

nearly

9,000 aircraft before the King

Air

90

took

its place on

the

sales floor

in

the

1960s.

In his book, Parmerter deftly

tells

how

Olive

Ann

Beech always

insisted on flying

in

a Twin Beech

18,

until the day the

factory

test

pilot convinced her to take

a ride

in

the new, turbine-powered, pres

surized

King

Air.

She

sat in the

back and silently soaked in the

smoothness and

performance of

the newer airplane. When they


24/36

E E

BUCK HIL ERT

onday

morning

quart

erbacki

ng

I've said

many times, pilots

and

aviation

don't

need

enemies;

there are always

other

pilots

Just let another pilot stub

his toe, like

bend

a

wingtip

or

maybe have something happen

that looks bad, and then

listen

to the comments from

other

pi-

lots. You'll

hear

13 different the

ories on what

should

have been

done, and most of them will be

far less than complimentary.

We

need

to

take

a

page from

the American

Medical

Associa

tion "handbook."

Pilots

should

stick

together.

We

should

defend

one another, rather than

criti

cize

and condemn.

I know pilots are an

indepen

dent

group, self-confident

and

at times

aggressive.

We're

built

that way.

It

takes a

certain atti

tude

like that

to be

able

to

fly.

We all feel

we're

the

best that

we

can

handle

any

situation,

When

there

is an incident

or

an

accident, the media solicits

comments

from

anyone

who

will make

them.

This

is where

you

can

head

off

a

condemna

tion or make

it

worse. Better one

Except for the

time warp

and maybe a

streak

of

luck,

it could have

een you

and maybe a streak of luck,

it

could have been

you

Maybe

some of you saw the

pictures and read th news

item about my

number

three

son, Lee, putt ing our

Champ

into the water, without floats

of course. In any event, the

media went

wild.

There

was

coverage from local

and

distant

TV radio,

and the

press-some

factual, some

wildly imagina

tive,

and

some

critical.

There

are no

aviation editors

working

in

the general mass

media

these days. The cub

re

porter is often the one sent to

the

scene. It's

our job

to

educate

them,

tell it like it is,

and

disarm

what the

public thinks is

an

elec-

trifying bit

of

news.

A

routine

operation to the uninitiated can

be spectacular when the media

gets through with

it .

In my

son's

case the

engine

quit, and he ex


25/36

subsequent phone ca ll s from

the

press and TV people. They

called

every listed surname

in

the

books,

looking for spectacu-

lar

information.

I t

was a

crash

to

them;

whereas to

a

pilot, it was

a successful forced landing.

The news was out, and

then

the fun began. Many of

our

friends

and relatives,

Young

Ea-

gles, and others who had been

given rides

in

the

airplane

all

began

to

ca

l l.

Some were

un-

believing, some thought it

was

good for

a laugh, while others

were sympathetic and

offered

to

help. As one person said, "a cast

of thousands

descended on

the

scene

. Okay,

maybe not thou-

sands,

but there was no short-

age of spectators or stories, to

be sure.

The local, co u nty, and state

police; the

DNR;

the

FAA;

and

the NTSB were

all

there. The

unofficial conclusion was it was

an

incident. Unfortunate

ly it

concluded by

the

aircraft sink-

ing through the ice.

The

interesting

part

is

that

in

this Chain

of Lakes area,

there

are several cases of automobiles,

snowmobiles,

and

ATVs

going

through the

ice every year.

Un-

less there is a fatality,

they

se l-

dom even get

noticed by

anyone

but the Department

of Natural

Resources.

The gist

of

this story: Defend

your fellow pilot from unfair

criticism. Don't let yourself get

THE LEGEnD

CU

... the Legend Lives

VAA LOGO

BLANKETS

Du

ri ng

the

winter months

wr

ap

your sel f in th is

sweatshi rt soft blanket

that sports

our

VAA

lo

go.

Ta

ke it along on tr ips for

the

added comfort. Comes

in

th ree great colors.

Hu

nt r Green V 2213

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~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~


26/36

On Patrol

True

Adventures

o

an

Alaska Game

Warden by Ray

Tremblay

I'll admit it; I m always a sucker

for books on aviation in

the 49th

state, Alaska. A

number

of Alaska

related aviation books have been

published

in the last year, and

they're all fascinating reading.

The

first one of

the pair that

will be

mentioned

here

is

On Pa-

trol True Adventures o an Alaska

Game Warden

by Ray Tremblay.

It's a great folksy account of wild

life management aviation during

the days just prior to Alaskan state

hood and the subsequent changes

that

followed after 1959. Tremblay

neatly

keeps

the

larger issues af

fecting the Alaska territory

and

his

personal experiences in

covering

vast regions of the state interwo

ven in his narrative,

and

the indis

Mercy

Pilot The foe

Crosson

StOlY

by Dirk Tordoff

Pioneer Alaskan

aviator

Joe

Crosson has always been

an

in

teresting subject for me;

he

origi

nally came to my attention as the

big brother

of

Marvel Crosson, a

promising

and accomplished pilot

(she held

the

women s altitude re

cord of 23,996 feet in May of 1929)

whose

death

in the 1929 Women's

Air

Derby

marred an otherwise

outstanding

event. Joe Crosson

was a

pioneer

in

every sense of

the word.

From his

days as the

first chief pilot of Alaska Airways,

to his harrowing flights to rescue

other flyers

or recover

the

bod

ies of

those

lost in the forbidding

Artic lands, this biography, while

needing

the touch

of

a

talented

copy

editor,

nonetheless does a

fascinating job

of letting

us meet

Joe

and

his family while filling in

many details surrounding many

The Barnstormers

Pioneers

o the

Sky

DVD

It's been a few years since a video

has given us a good look

at

avia

tion history,

and

to their credit,

the producers

of

The Barnstormers

did their best to find

at

least one

living 1920s era barnstormer to in

terview. After an overview of

the

history

of

barnstorming, which

features a fair

amount

of period

film footage, the DVD sets out to

profile a

number

of modern day

barnstormers. I felt, however, the

definition

of

barnstormer was

loosened up

a

bit when the

sub

jects included a

number

of excel

lent performers

who

do

not

travel

about

the

land

offering rides,

but

whose primary involvement is fly-

ing

for air shows. Admittedly, in

this day and age there are few who

are able to make a living by flying

from

town to

town,

and the

Lock

family's barnstorming business us

ing

a

pair of beautifully restored

New Standard biplanes is a

nota

ble exception. The

Lock family's


27/36

cussed, along with drawing

W W ERO N D

S K Y W Y S

In addition to the wide variety of

books and videos seen over

the

past

few

months, some publications are

welcome, regular visitors to our

desk. Two

of the most interesting

periodicals

are

WW

I Aero The

Journa l o the Early Aeroplane and

Skyways The Journal

o

the Airplane

1920-1940 both

painstakingly

published by Leonard

E

LEO Op

dycke.

Leo

has been compiling

the

most fascinating

and

rare minutia

concerning pioneer aircraft since

1961, nearly half a century,

and

his

equally dedicated gang

of

contrib

utors reads like a who's

who of

aviation historians: Carroll

F

Gray,

whose books and articles

have

reproductions and a generous help

ing

of

vintage

photographs, often

published for the very first time.

Skyways edited by

David

Os

trowski,

is

equally interesting,

and

both

magazines threaten

to

domi

nate hours of

leisure

time each

quarter they

arrive. The July 2004

issue, for instance, features a biog

raphy of Korvin-Kroukovsky, EDO

aircraft's chief engineer, written by

Dan Pattarini, who worked

with

the talented Russian immigrant.

There's even a

photo of the

Maiolo,

an amphibian that

was

never put

into production, but

is

strikingly

similar

in layout to some of

the

modern day lightplane amphibi

ous aircraft now being produced.

Skyways also has a feature familiar

nonprofit World War I Aeroplanes

organization has

served

the

WW

I community with information,

drawings, and expertise since

the

start of

the 1960s,

and

many, in

cluding this reviewer, credit much

of that era's preserved historical in

formation

to

his relentless activity.

He finds

himself

now at the

crossroads

many

of us are ponder

ing

. Where will all this knowledge

go?

Who

will follow

to maintain

what we've collected and add to it,

if possible? Many organizations are

seeing declining membership num

bers

and

a

membership

base

that

c

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Mar 2005