Vintage Airplane - May 2009

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - May 2009

1/44


2/44

GEOFF

RO ISON

PR

ESI

E

NT

VI

NTAGE AI RCRAFT ASSOCIATI

ON

Fresh

air

new

hangar, including electrical and

plumbing work, rough-in construc

tion, and

HVAC

work. We will feed

you

and

provide

housing

if needed.

These

work weekends

are a lot of

fun. Hope to see you up there

By the time you

read

this issue

you

should have

received

your

full

color mailing requesting your par

ticipation in our annual Friends

of

the Red Barn campaign. I encourage

you

to consider participating at any

level that you re comfortable with.

The Friends

of

the Red Barn is very

important

to our

annual

budget;

t helps us ensure we can continue

to meet the

needs of VAA members

during

EAA AirVenture

Oshkosh

.

As many

of

you

are already aware,

we recently learned that significant

progress has been made in the de

velopment of

an alternative fuel for

certificated aircraft engines. This

fuel, 94Ul, may provide a long-

term alternative that would

poten-

tially replace lOOll while

imposing

the

least amount of impact on the

flying community. EAA has con-

Happy spri n

gtime to the mem-

bership of the Vintage Aircraft Asso

ciation Although t has been quite

windy

of

late in my region, we have

finally experienced a good

number

of

days where we have been able to

open the doors of the chapter hangar.

We

greatly enjoy

the

fresh air; we also

look forward to the utility bills taking

a giant leap downward each spring.

The spring weather has also now

allowed us

to

continue with

the

construction of a new addit ion to

the chapter hangar

here

at DeKalb

County

Airport in northeastern

Indiana. As

you may well remem-

ber, we had hoped to complete this

project last fall, but unfortunately,

old man winter snuck

up on

us

and had other ideas The plumbing

hookups for the restroom facilities

have now been installed, and

we

are prepared

to pour

the concrete

foundation

. God willing (and the

creek don t rise), we

shou

ld be able

to complete this exciting project by

Oshkosh time.

Speaking

of

vintage construction

www. VintageAircraft.org and

there 's

a photo

on

the News page in this

issue of

Vintage Airplane.

Execut ive

i rec tor

H.G.

Frautschy has put

put together

a

nice

pictorial

of the progress on

both websites, and he will

be add-

ing additional

photos and

video

as

the project continues.

s

many

of

you

are

already aware

we

recently

learned

that

significant

progress

has

been made

in the

development of an

alternative

fuel

for certificated

aircraft

engines.

http:///reader/full/VintageAircraft.orghttp:///reader/full/VintageAircraft.org


3/44

N E

MAY

VOL 37, NO 5

2009

CONTENTS

Fe

Straight Level

Fresh air

by Geoff Robison

2 News

5 Aeromail

6

Replicating a French Barracuda

Tom Wathen, Mark Lightsey, and

the

Caudron C.460

by Budd Davisson

4

Those Wonderful Widgeons

Flying since

the

40s

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

2 Light Plane Heritage

Uncle Bob s Midwing Midway

Part II

by Bob Whittier

28

The Vintage Mechanic

Some thoughts on restoration and airworthiness

by Robert G. Lock

32

The Vintage Instructor

Weight wait,

don t

tell me

by Doug Stewart

34

Mystery Plane

by H.G. Frautschy

38

Classified Ads

STAFF

EAA

Publisher

Tom Poberezny

Director of

EAA

Publications

Mary

Jones

Executive

Director/Editor

H.G . Frautschy

Production/Special Project

Kathleen

Witman

Photography

Jim Koepnick

Bonnie

Kratz

Advertising Coordinator

Sue Anderson

Classified Ad

Coordinator

Lesley Poberezny

Copy

Editor

Colleen

Walsh


4/44

Flush Toilets

and other site improvements

to make AirVenture attendees more

comfortable

It's

not that

often

that

something

as

modest

as a

commode takes

center

stage. But

when talking to

EAA s

members about

the

sweeping

changes coming to

their

conven

tion site, one simple

priority con

sistently rated highly: flush toilets.

Focusing

on

flush toilets

in

a broad

discussion

about the comprehen

sive AirVenture

site-enhancement

program

is

like focusing

on

shoul

der harness

adjustments in

de

scribing a cross-country flight. It's

a

small consideration in the big

scheme

of things,

something that

doesn

't really

matter to

anyone ...

except

to

you

when

your comfort

begins to suffer. And

then it mat

ters a

lot

.

The lO-year, multimillion-dollar

plan to upgrade EAA s convention

site not

only

will

bring improve

ments

to roadways, layout, and

infrastructure (see last

month's

Hotline

in

Sport Aviation , but also

will result

in

significant

improve

ments

in creature comforts

for

attendees.

The long-range vision

calls for flush

toilets

in

many

ar

eas,

addit

i

onal and

refurbished

campground shower

facilities,

more green

spaces, additional

John

Berendt

Cannon Falls, Minnesota

Just

as

this

issue

was going

to press

we

learned that

long

time VAA

Director John

Berendt

passed away early

in

the

morning

of April

IS, 2009,

at

the

age

of

74. A lifetime

EAA

member (EAA

36591,

VAA

984),

John

started fly-

ing in

the late 1950s

and

had his

interest in aviation

renewed

in

and most

cost-effective way to cre

ate shade

is with

trees,

and

we

had

a ready supply of trees that had

to

be removed from

the paths

cleared

for new roadways and

construc

tion,

said Steve Taylor, EAA facili

ties manager. We've

transplanted

42 trees and added a few

new

ones

1967

when

he

joined

EAA

Chap

ter 300 in

Faribault,

Minnesota.

John enthusiastically owned an

Aeronca 11AC Chief, a Fairchild

PT-19,

and

a Fairchild F-24. He's

best known

as

the

president of

the

Fairchild

Club

and editor

of

the Fairchild Flyer.

John

was a

charter member of

VAA

Chapter

13

in

Albert

Lea,

Minnesota

.

He

was

appointed an

advisor to

the

Antique/Classic

Di-

vision (now VAA) in

1989,

and

after his

election

as a

director

in

1990,

he continued to

serve

the

membership until his death.

John

has

been

a

volunteer at EAA

Air

Venture Oshkosh since 1975, con

centrating

his efforts

on the VAA

forums

and

the

Type

Club tent,

and

throughout

the

years

John

was

the volunteer who

sent you your

membership longevity

pins.

We

will miss

John's

direct

and

forth

right manner

as well as his pas

sionate commitment to aviation

and

to

the

VAA.

We extend

our

condolences

to

his

wife, Marge,

and

his friends

and

family.

Bunkhouse, West, Stits, and

North

40 shower houses will boast

new

interiors

with better

lighting,

up

graded shower stalls, lavatory sink

facilities

and, of

course (drum

roll), flush toilets.

The

toilets will

be added to the back

half of each

shower house,

with access from


5/44

2009 irVenture

NOT M

vailable for

Pre Order

Get a jump on

E

AirVenture

Oshkosh 2009 by pre-ordering the

2009

notice

to airmen (NOTAM) .

Although

many

of

the

procedures

are similar to previous years, there

are updates in nearly every area to

enhance safety, efficiency, and con

venience for

the

thousands of air

planes expected.

The E AirVenture NOT M is

required reading

and should

be

part of a pilot s preflight prepara

tion. I t outlines all arrival/depar

ture procedures, radio frequencies,

Wittman Regional Airport details,

and much more.

The 32-page booklets are ex

pected to be

printed

and available

later this month along with an on

line version.

You can

place

your order at

https://Secure EAA org/airventure/

notamJequest html

Submit Your

Type

Club

Meeting Information

Many

type

clubs hold special

events,

dinners

and

meetings

in

and around

Oshkosh

throughout

AirVenture week, and E provides

a listing on the AirVenture website.

If your type club plans

to meet

here, visit

https://Secure eaa org/air-

venture/type_clubs html

and com

plete the online form. The deadline

to submit

information

is July 14.

Call 888-322-4636, ext. 6112, or

e-mail ssedlachek@

eaa org

for more

information.

tor, Field Representative, Ground basic Young Eagles flight.

Support Volunteer, Humanitarian The

nomination

period is open

(presented for efforts to reach spe through

June

IS,

and

the official

cial needs Young Eagles), and the nomination form is available

at

Young Eagles Horizon award, rec www YoungEagles org/nomination

ognizing efforts

to

go

beyond

the

form pdf

V

Work Parties

The new VAA Vintage Hangar is up, and now

it

is time for us to in-

stall the interior offices, reconnect the water supply, and install electri

cal service to the other buildings in the VAA Red Barn area. There is

much

to

do before AirVenture 2009 , and we sure could benefit from

your skills, talents, and help. If you have any background in rough con

struction, finish work, electrical, plumbing, HVAC or if

you

would make

a good supervisor, please come up and help us during any of our work

weekends. Come for one day or all three days-it s up to you. All we ask

is that

you

check in with us via e-mail before you arrive so we can plan

our work and resources.

We

have living accommodations for volunteers, and we will have

great evening meals supplied by chefs Steve Nesse (your regular host

at

VAA

' s

Tall

Pines Cafe) and Bob Lumley. We will also supply lunch.

Please let Archie James know

[email protected])

if and when

you

are coming so we can make arrangements for food and lodging.

Please bring tools hammers, drills, tape measures, etc.

The work weekends are as follows:

https://secure.eaa.org/airventurehttps://secure.eaa.org/airventurehttps://secure.eaa.org/airventurehttps://secure.eaa.org/airhttps://secure.eaa.org/airhttps://secure.eaa.org/airhttps://secure.eaa.org/airhttps://secure.eaa.org/airmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]://secure.eaa.org/airventurehttps://secure.eaa.org/airmailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


6/44

EM's

Consolidated

PT-3

will be featured

at

the Classic

Military Trainers Ultimate Fantasy Camp, October 9-11.

Ultimate

Fantasy:

Classic

Military

Trainers

You won't

want to miss this chance of a lifetime to

experience unforgettable flights in two incredible aircraft

from EAA's collection of military trainers-a Consoli

dated

PT-3

and a North American

T-6

.

EM's Classic Military Trainers Ultimate Fantasy Flight

Camp, October 9-11, will include a course on the history

of perhaps the most interesting period of military train

ers: the

1930s.

Participants will have a rare opportu

nity to fly in the only remaining airworthy PT-3 plus take

a second flight in the famed pilot maker, the North

American

T-6.

Flights include a preflight briefing

on

the

aircraft and its controls.

EAA pilots and instructors will

perform

the

take

off, demonstrate

in

the air

how the controls work,

and then

it

is your turn

To

learn more on this and

other EAA Fantasy Flight Camps, visit www Fantasy

FlightCamp org

Send Your Young Eagte to Camp

Cutline: Air Academy campers get to test their

abilities

on

EAA s

Challenge Course.

-Session 1: June 15-19,2009

-Session

2:

June 21-25,2009

The

EAA Young Eagles Camp

is

designed as an

introduction to the

wonderful

world of aviation

for students ages 12-13. This program uses small

group activities and close counselor relationships

to present

the

basics

of

flight

in

a science

camp

format that is a unique combination of fun

and

discovery. Primary activities include rocketry and

learning about how balloons fly and about avia

tion history and flight.

There are plenty of opportunities for kids to

learn about aviation at the EAA Air Academy. To

learn more, visit www AirAcademy org

VAA

Vintage Hangar Project

Nears Completion

After a particularly harsh win-

ter in east-central Wisconsin, we've

from MPB Builders completed the

framing and

outer

shell of the new

Vintage

Hangar project

. Here it

is

in its unpainted state after all exte

unteers

to descend upon it and fi

nalize the interior work that needs

to be

done

and

paint

the exterior.

See the item on page 3 for more de

http://www.fantasy/http:///reader/full/FlightCamp.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirAcademy.orghttp://www.fantasy/http:///reader/full/FlightCamp.orghttp:///reader/full/www.AirAcademy.org


7/44

SEND YOUR COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS TO :

VAA, LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

P

.O.

Box 3086

OSHKOSH,

WI

549

03-30

86

OR

YOU

CAN E-MAIL THEM TO: vintageaircraft@eaa org

In the March 2009

issue of

intage Airplane

I was extremely

TH E

VINTAGE

interested

in

the

well-written ar

MECHANIC

ticle-The

Vintage

Mechanic

8VR08(RTcii.\.OC1I

on

page 24, by Robert

G.

Lock.

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irs

,

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erat

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ance,

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8/44

N

estled in the hills on

the edge

of

Riverside,

California, Flabob Air

port

has a form

of

aer

ial patina to it. It's as if it has been

fondled

by

generations of loving

hands, which have

smoothed the

sharp edges

and worn the finish,

thereby giving it a friendly, lived-in

feel. Many of

the

hangars are rusty,

the

spirit of Bill Turner,

the

long

time

replica king, still lives

on at

the

airport

he called home for so

many years.

The

Caudron

C.460 is

another

of

aviation

philanthropist/entre

preneur Tom Wathen's projects. He

and Bill Turner created some fantas

tic

airplanes

(Turner-Laird SpeCial

and

de Havilland

Comet,

to

name

good move, and I'm loving it.

Mark

came

into

airplanes the

same way

most

people do, via mod

els and a very early interest. He got

his private pilot certificate

in

high

school at Long Beach, California,

but then

started hanging

out up

at

another

Southern California

sport

aviation

hot

spot, Santa Paula.

I

got my

license

at

Long Beach,


9/44

In

1936

. . . Michel

Detroyat

and his

ern California legendary airman,

airplane creator, and restorer.

Mark got a real job working

for the gas company, but old air

planes

almost

immediately started

working

on

him

.

I was living in Hemet but com

muted to Hawthorne in an old Bel-

lanca Cruisair. When you put that

amount of time on an old airplane,

you

can't help

but learn how to

work on it. Then I built a Cor-

ben

Super Ace with a Model A for

power. I was always

out

at the

air

port working

on

something, and

people kept dropping by 'Hey, can

you help

me

with this? Can you

make this part for me?'

and

about

10 years ago, I had enough busi

ness going that I jumped out on

my

own.

And here I am

building

wild-looking French airplanes.

As he tells it, Tom Wathen

had

the

Caudron

shuffling from front

to back burner for a

number

of

years before Mark took the proj-

ect over.

Tom likes

to

do airplanes

that

were winners. Plus

i t has

to

be


10/44

something

no

one else

has

done.

After

doing such

a

long

series of

racers together,

Bill

Turner and

he decided the

Caudron would

be

the

next

project because it fit both

of his criteria:

It had won both the

Greve and the Thompson

trophies

What I

didn't

know

was that

Tom had

gone

to France and

come

back

with

a

complete

set

of

original

construction drawings for

the

air-

plane. They

apparently were used

on the

project

for

a

little while

then

totally

disappeared.

I

didn't

erably. Because

it has

to

look

like

a specific

airplane, you're

terribly

constrained

in

your

design

work.

On the

one hand,

you have the

areas and basic dimensions avail-

able, but

on the other,

every

time

a detail s

even

slightly wrong, ev-


11/44

and appearance-wise.

What he was referring to is that

the

Ranger is a bigger

engine than

the original Renault engine.

lso

the

bigger nose

on the

case was likely to

cause cowling changes. How

ever, a bigger problem with

the

inches versus

nearly

500

inches.

With an

airplane

that

was,

in

But,

we

could get it with a con theory, going to

be fairly

fast, a

stant-speed

prop,

which would

be

fixed-pitch

prop

would

be a real

a huge improvement over trying detriment.

The original had

a

to run a fixed-pitch on a Ranger.

two-position prop: You

took off

in


12/44

coarse pitch; then, when

you

were

up and running,

ram

air pressure

triggered an

automatic change to

a

finer pitch. A

constant-speed prop

turning faster

wou

ld be about

the

right

diameter,

around

6 feet,

and

it would work well

at

both

ends of

the envelope.

Once

we discovered

the OM

we never looked back.

At that point research

on

the

airframe began in earnest. This

meant finding

every photo possi

ble

along with

every kind

of

draw

ing

available

. With on ly mode l

airplane drawings in their hands,

it meant they had to

continu

ally check

the

accuracy of those

against photos

of the real

airplane

Flabob legend

d

a

rquart got the

builders started in the right direc-

tion on the landing gear wh en he

donated a pair of Culver V shock

struts to the cause. The motion

that closes the gear doors is so

complicated

that to

call it mon-

key motion would be doing a dis-

service to monkeys everywhere.

using

comparative

geometry: Find

something

that's

a

known dimen

sion,

like the prop (in side view),

and

use

that to create a

scale

to

get

the

rest

of

the

dimensions.

Mark says, We found one set of

drawings from

the

American

Air

Racing Society

that

was

extremely

accurate and

pulled

the airfoil off

those.

We

don't know what the air

foil is,

but

it

is

perfectly symmetr i


13/44

completely rebuilding

the

front

half of

the

fuselage. Again.

Since

they

had no drawings for

anything, they relied

on

the tried

and true

method

of looking at simi

lar airplanes

and

using

their

struc

ture

as

guides for their design work.

Mark got with George Pereira,

who

designed

the GP-4, which is

similar in weight and speed to the

Caudron, and used

his

wing at -

tach system. It's a one-piece wing

that comes up

into

the fuselage,

so it's

not

too complicated

.

One

of Mark's previous customers was

a retired Boeing engineer, and he

looked

over their

shoulders

to

make sure they didn t do some-

thing really stupid .

liThe

wing

uses a

laminated,

solid spar for

the

center, which

tapers

and

slowly

becomes

a

box

spar toward the tips.

liThe ailerons work on a unique

torque tube system,

the

design of

which

is

driven

by

the

total lack

of space in the fuselage,

which

is

true of just about everything. I sit

on

the

floor

and

still

had

to cheat

the

canopy up

just

a

little

just

to

fit in it. In fact, the trim

and

tail wheel

lock

are on the right

side, making it

look

as i f I have

to

change hands on the stick

to

get

them, but that s

not

the

case.

I can reach almost nothing on the

left side of

the

airplane

with

my

left

hand

because

I m

so crowded.

It's only 22 inches across, so it s

much

easier to reach

across the

airplane

with

my left

hand.

liThe landing gear was actually

Cleveland Would Never

Be

th

Same

To hardcore air racing fans, 1936 will forever be known as

"The

Year

the French Came to Cleveland." In a sport that had

national prominence

just

below

that

of

baseball with almo.

st

exactly the same level of strictly American testosterone,

it

was

unthinkable that some effete Europeans could come over here

and beat us at our own game. But they did. Actually Michel De

troyat and his Caudron C.460 didn t just beat us, they cleaned

our clock. In

the

Greve Trophy race, Detroyat was 22 miles

faster than Harold Neumann in a Folkerts, and in the Thomp

son Trophy race, he blazed across the line 16 mph faster than

Earl Ortman in the Keith Rider R-3. Margins like that don t con

stitute winning:

They

amount to a trouncing.

In the defense of the good old United States, at least one

point has

to

be made: Air racing in the United States was

essentially a 3-D form of small-town drag racing. Every air

plane was hand built

by

amateurs

in

their backyards and han

gars, and every single team was nickel-and-diming their way

around the racing circuit. The Caudron was built by anything

but a bunch of amateurs, and its racing was part of a corpo

rate strategy. In fact, Caudron had been a major force in the

French aviation industry, which was considerable,

by

the

way

since around 1912. For it to show up at Cleveland was the

equivalent of having a team officially fielded by Boeing lined

up next to

you

at Reno.

The

airplane was a professionally

de

signed and built machine.

And

it wasn t designed to come to

America. That was something of

an

afterthought.

The airplane was originally designed to compete in the Coupe

Deutsch de la Meurthe race of 1934, Europe's premier aerial

free-for-all, which a Caudron won. Naturally Then

its

racers

started

playing with the record book. That summer Raymond

Delmotte fired up the long, lean racer and set an absolute,

world land-plane speed record of 314 mph. We say "Iand

plane" because the absolute overall speed record was held by


14/44

The gear was the most difficult part of the airplane

to

design because

the wheels

start

in front of the spar but retract behind it.

Tom

Wathen: racer angel, airport

savior, sport aviation legend, and

all-around good guy. He sponsored

the Caudron project.

Mark Lightsey looks huge in this

photo because the airplane is decep

tively tiny and he barely fits in it.

to

lock it down.

We had

pictures of

the

gear

but

didn' t know

exactly which

way

we

were going

to

go when

the

late

d Marquart stopped by.


15/44

Mark used the metric equivalent, cov

ering it all with Poly-Fiber products.

liThe covering and

painting

sys

tem is a new product manufactured

by Poly-Fiber for the Ceconite STC.

It 's called Star Gloss,

and it went

on really slick, Mark says.

When you see how tiny the air

plane is and how

Mark fills

up

the

cockpit and then you look at Fla

bob's 40 -foot wide runway, you

have

to

wonder how it flies.

liThe

good

news is

that the

nose

is

really narrow and the flaps re

ally

get

the nose

down

so

you

have the runway in sight

until

you flare, but on the ground

you

can barely see the sides.

liOn my first takeoff, I elected not

to use any of the split-flaps. I brought

the tail

up

and

it

hit 70, then 80,

then 90 , and it showed absolutely

no indication

it was going to leave

the ground.

At

100 I tugged on the

stick a little, and it came right off.

That symmetrical wing needs angle

of attack to fly. Now, I use 15 degrees

of flap

and

hold it slightly tail low,

and

i t

flies off really easily.

I know it looks like

i t

ought to

be a real handful in the air,

but the

controls are really quite nice. It isn't

sensitive at all. However, it is abso

lutely neutral

on

all axes. If you

put

a wing down, it'll stay down. Same

way with the rudder and elevator. Be-

cause it has so

much

side area ahead

of

the CG, if I pull the nose

to

the

side with rudder, it'll fly sideways all

day long. There

is

zero dihedral ef

fect:

You

absolutely

can't

pick

up

a

wing with rudder.

rAiLWW66LS

The long barracuda shape of the C 460 replica is emphasized y the

French tricolor stripe. The tiny 75-square-foot wing

is

partially respon

sible for the original s 314-mph top speed.

so I have a

lot of

time

to

get it set

up for touchdown.

liThe tail wheel is lockable, and

I don't

think you

could

control

the

airp

lane on landing i f

it weren't

locked.

The

pilot's weight

is

so far

back and there's so much

weight

out forward

that

if the airplane

started to move Sideways on the

runway,

it

would be like a dumbbell

and

really

want

to

come around

hard. With the locking tail wheel,

it's not that

bad and

a little

rudder

and brake holds it.

So now that Tom

and

Mark have

created their airplane, what's next?

Tom is

working with some

air

show people

in

Europe who really

want to see the airp lane, so we're

dismantling

it

and taking it to

Eu

rope for the summer. We're going to

hit the Geneva Classics show,

and

France

is

having a 100th anniversary

of

Caudron show. In total, we're go

ing to hit eight to 10 shows.

Mark is quick

to

point out that

he didn't do

this

by himself and

wants to

credit

the Caudron kids

who were part of his crew.

I know

I'm

going to miss some

body, and if I do, I'm sorry. But I have

to thank Bill Hill, Tony Furakawa,

Nando and Hualdo Mendoza, Don

Newman,

Larry Gudde, Barry Ken

nedy,

Carah

Durell, Austin Jones,

John Nelson, Rob Gold, and espe

cially Tom Wathen. It may be a little

airplane,

but it took

a

lot of

hands

and

a lot of hours

to

get it fin ished.

Every time I strap it

on

I

think

of

Tom

Wathen, and

I think

of these

guys. They really pulled it off.


16/44

THOSE

WONDERFUL

WIDGEONS

Flying since

th

4 s

by Sparky Barnes Sargent


17/44

fairly rare

bird and

easily a favor

ite

among those who

are fond of

vintage

amphibians-for both

its

eye appeal and performance.

With

its

durable

design

and

sporty

ma

neuverability,

the

Widgeon origi

nally had seating for four

or

five

people, and it featured all-metal

construction, cantilever wings,

and

a

semi-monocoque two-step

hull

,

with an

overall

length of

31

feet,S inches

and

a

wingspan of

40 feet. The G-44A featured a few

improvements over

the

original

G-44-including

a

modified hull

and seating

for

s ix-and

those

several engine conversions

over

the

years.

The Gannet

conversion

(Pace,

Masan

dorf)

featured

300-hp

Ly-

coming R-680 radials,

while

other

conversions

used

260-hp

Continental

IO-470-Ds

or the 260-hp

Lycoming GO-435s. McK

innon Enterprises of

Or

egon developed

its

own

conversion using the

270

hp

Lycoming GO-480s

with three-bladed pro

pellers

and increased

fuel

capacity. The McKinnon

Super Widgeon

responded

happily to

the conversion,

showing improved speed,

climb, and

range.

Other

features included mod

ern

avionics

and

retract

able wingtip floats, along

with

various creature com

forts

ranging from wider

windows

to a larger door,

soundproofing, and even an escape

hatch.

The

McKinnon conversion

also

included

changes to the struc

ture and

hull, thereby allowing

an increased maximum take-off

weight.

Yet

another

engine

conver

sion uses the

turbocharged 350-hp

Lycoming

TIO-540s . Through

the

years,

Widgeons have also

been

modified

with droop tips

and

a

one-piece windshield.

N135MG

Brian

Van

Wagnen of Jackson,

Michigan, has been flying since

he

was 14,

mowing

grass

to pay

for

flying

lessons.

They

had wa

ter airplanes,

which

I was attracted

to

right away

since I

grew up on

a

lake,

says Van Wagnen with a

smile,

and

I was fortunate

enough

to get around

one

of

these when

I

was 16. Al Meyers of Meyers Aircraft

had a Widgeon

down at

Tecumseh,

and

I was flying a Volmer [an ex

perimental

amphibian

designed by

Volmer Jensen]

at the time

with a

guy-they

took

me

out

in

the Wid

geon,

and

I fell

in

love with it

So

I've been flying

them

for a long

time, and I do have one

at

home . I

fly for American out of O'Hare,

but

I'm

really a seaplane

nut

."

Van

Wagnen explains

that Jim

Hagedorn

contacted

me to ferry

the airplane and then give

him

some

dual in it. This airplane was restored

many years ago, and it was already

nice when

he

bought it from Mike

Reece in Portland, Oregon .

Then

Jim

added

a stripe

and

logo to the

exterior,

along

with a

new

interior

and

panel

done by

Modern Aero

in Egan, Minnesota. I don't know a

lot

about

this airplane's history,

but

these little holes

on

the fuselage

were for a depth charge rack, when

it

was used for coastal

patrol

dur

ing World War

II

.

Then

it

went into


18/44

AIMeyers

of

Meyers Aircraft had

a

idgeon

down

at

Tecumseh, and

. they

took

me

out in the

Widgeon,

and

I

fell

in

love

with

it "

Brian an

Wagnen

Note

the

immaculate interior and up-t


19/44

This Widgeon is powered y Continental 52 s.

ing,

the

flight controls are fabric

covered on

all

the

Widgeons, with

the

exception

that some of them

have

had

the

flaps

metalized-but

this

one

hasn't.

Van Wagnen

thoroughly

enjoyed

flying

the

Widgeon

to E

AirVen

ture Oshkosh

for its first

visit-es

pecially wh

en

it

came time

for

the

judging

and

awards. N135MG made

both its

pilot

and its

owner

happy

when it

was awarded

the

Transport

Category Champion Bronze Lindy

at

the end of

E

AirVenture 2008.

N7 G

Frank Marzich

of Rockford, Il

linois, started

hanging

out

at

air


20/44

•

The Widgeon's flight controls are

Close-up view of the wheel well.

Unlike most general-aviation air


21/44

Here you can see the entryway into the cabin .

N744G s panel- note the handsome

woo

yokes.

able,

explains

Marzich, so I've

owned it about 10 years now.

has two batteries in

it for

backup

.

It

holds

100 gallons of fuel, and

if

you

let it . The biggest

attraction

of this airplane

is

on the water,

and

coming

out of

the

water,

he

says,

smiling

broadly. When

you're

in

full displacement taxi, you just

turn

around

like a fishing boat,

and then

all of a sudden you just

jam

the

power to

it,

and the monster just

lurches

up and this one comes

out

of the water really fast, in 9 or

10 seconds-and you get up on

the

step

and

it takes

another

second to

pick

up speed. It's

pretty

impres

sive, because

the

water is spraying

up all

around and the

windows are

getting wet.

s

much

as he

loves

it

on

the

water,

he

says it also

handles

real

nice

on the

land;

the

only

thing

that's a little different

is

that

with

the

round

nose on it-like the bow

of

a

ship-your

ight

picture

is

not

square like in

t

airplanes.

So

it's

not

so easy

to

tell if you're in a

crab.

You

ask yourself,

'Where on

that

roundness

do I really want

to

put the horizon?' I t

takes

a

little

bit

of

getting

used to,

to

see

when

your nose

is

straight, because

other

airplanes have

a

boxier nose and

it's pretty easy

to

see

when those

lines line up

on the

runway.

t

first,

it's pretty easy to

land

crooked, be

cause you don ' t

know what

you're

looking for-but if you use your pe

ripheral

you

can catch your drift.

So

you get used

to

looking out the

side,

and

then you'll pick out where

that

runway

line should be on the

nose

up

there,

and

pretty soon

that

will start to come together.

N744G

was restored by Chuck


22/44

Light Plane Heritage

ORIGINALLY

PUBLISHED IN E Experimenter

AUGU

T

994

Uncle

Bob s

Midwing Midway

Part II

BY BOB WHITTI R

EAA 1235

L

ast

month

we told

how

designer Grover C. Loen

ing in 1918 created a shoulder-wing monoplane

that was significantly simpler, lighter, and faster

than

the

biplanes then being used in World War I

This M-8 also

had an advantage

from the

impor-

crate

height to

a

minimum

. Once

the

planes

had

been

uncrated in Europe, mechanics would have to reinstall

the center sections and take care to rig them accurately.

Slight misalignment of a center section would translate

into appreciable misalignment of long upper wings.


23/44

he midwing design has been used in numerous types of homebuilt air

planes, such as this Cassutt speedster and the similar-looking Monerai.

Absence of dihedral can simplify construction of cantilever wing spars.

Brothers Paul and Norman Poberezny built the low-wing Pober Sport

P-5 in 1959 Paul found that the low wing s larger wing struts had sig

nificantly higher turbulence on the upper wing surface at the wing strut

juncture than his midwing Little Audrey which required much smaller

struts below the wing.

monoplanes

would be

to ship

overseas. Had that war

dragged on into 1919, it is very possible the M-Ss might

have seen a lot of action.

You won't read about this in coffee table books, but the

deve

loper of th e now widely used

Poly-Fibe r ai r

craf

t

covering mate-

ria l

s create

d one - and

two seater

mi

d

wing

designs called t

he

Flut-R

Bu

gs

wh ich became popular

among

ho

m

eb

uilt

airpl

ane

ent

h usiast

s.

In

recent years, Randy Schlitter of Kan

sas h

as

re-created a line of RANS ul

tralig

ht

s. I t includes the

S-9 and

S-lO

aerobat ic mode l

s

which are mid

wings. In Te nnessee, Wayne Ison 's

TEAM

In c.

organization

developed

th

e very popul ar miniMAX

ultra-

light, which also

is

a midwing.

None

made the choice

of mid-

wing configuration capriciously.

In

discussi

ng Little

Audrey Po

berezny said, I chose the midwing

configuration basically for structural

reason s. I t

is

easier,

and

a bit safer,

to

have

struts in

tension

under

the

wings rat

her

than

in

compression

as th ey would have to be

on

a strut

braced low -wing. I also wan

ted the

greatest possible proporti

on

of the

total w

in

g area

within the

propeller

slipst

ream

to coax

more

lift out of

it dur

ing

takeoff or in the event of

a go-around.

He

went on to

say I

once

flew a

C

ub

th at had

been

modified

into

a

high-wing twin by installing Lycom

ings

on

both right and left wings.

During th e run-up prior to takeoff, I

chanced to look down at the wheels

and

was surprised

to

notice that tire

defl

ection

was much less th

an

nor

ma

l.

Th

is

showed

tha

t even with

the

ship at a

standst

ill, so mu

ch

air being driven over

the

wings

by

the prope

ll

ers was ge nerating an appreciable

amount

of lift.

He

also related how when flying four-engined

KC 97


24/44

\

I

Some military planes

used

the midwing concept to ad-

-

vantage. In the Martin B-l of 1935 above and some

later bombers it created space in fuselage bellies for

bomb bays.

Top

right the 1937 Douglas 0-47A carried

pilot observer and rear gunner. Observer could move

into belly

to

see through underwing windows. Belly

hatch opened for vertical photography and dropping

messages etc. Right midwing design allowed Grum

man to draw on biplane experience when creating its

first monoplane the F4F-4 Wildcat. Since it is a big

ship the pilot could sit above the wing to clear the main spar This high position combined with small diam

eter of twin-row radial engine gave excellent forward visibility

for

combat and carrier landings.

climb out so well

as

to startle

modern

fliers. Their slow

turning engines drive large-diameter propellers. You have

now learned one of the mysterious reasons why some

planes are eagles and other are turkeys.

Poberezny also told us

that

some time after

the

ittle

Audrey

project, he built a low-wing, the Pober

Sport

It had

two struts above each wing. Tests with yarn tufts attached

to the upper surface of

one

wing showed

that

there was

much

turbulence

in the

areas where

the

struts

met the

wings, with appreciable loss of lift. In addition to this loss

of lift,

the

struts had to be made of heavier streamlined

ste

el tubing to give adequate resistance to buckling under

the compression load applied to them.

At fly-ins you will

notice

that

most ultralights are designed to have wing

struts in tension rather

than

compression.

Discussing his firm's miniMAX, Wayne Ison said, We

chose

the

midwing configuration because careful engi

neering

is

required

to

keep an ultralight

within

the

le

gal weight limit. Calculations showed

that

by attaching

wing roots to the top longerons instead of using cabane

struts

as

on

a parasol,

we

got maximum strength for the

structurally easy to incorporate admirably large windows

just below

the

wings.

In an informative and much-appreciated letter,

Ray

Stits

told us

that the

reason he chose the midwing configura

tion for his first Flut-R-Bug was to concentrate the differ

ent

airframe loads into as compact an area as pOSSible and

also for the sake of structural strength with low weight.

It

was

originally intended to power that first, quite small

Flut-R-Bug with a VW engine. Thus it was imperative to

keep weight

as

low

as

possible consistent with safety. But

in 1955, techniques for converting those auto engines

for

flight were in their infancy, and stories reaching

Ray

about

problems various people had encountered prompted him

to switch to a 65-hp aviation engine. This led to the basic

design evolving into the two-seat

Flut-R-Bugs.

These planes were fitted with cockpit canopies built

up

of metal strips. Right

and

left sides

had

transparent

plastic panels, while

the top

areas were fabric-covered

to shield occupants' heads from the

hot

sun. Test flights

were made

with

and without

these canopies

and

also

with

and without

the

plastic side panels. The airplanes


25/44

Top left , French Bernard

set

278 mph speed record in 1924 Hispano-Suiza engine of 450 hp had 12 cylinders

in three banks of four each. Cowl over right and

left

banks blended cleanly into roots of midwing. Center and

top right, Wittman Buster of late 1940s had flat-four 85-hp engine and used same idea in its cowling, as did

others. Bottom drawings show Art Chester's Jeep of mid-1930s.

It

had a gull wing similar to Stinson Reliant.

Spars were deepest and strongest where

struts

attached. Fairly open angle at junctures of

struts

with wing

undersides minimized drag from squeezing air in these angles. Shorter wing chord

at

roots minimized size

of juncture between wings and fuselage. Short wingspans of racers afforded good bracing angles.

~ ~ ~ l

I

D

The valley where a low-wing meets a round or

oval fuselage, A is a big drag generator. Effi

cient root fillets,

B

are complicated and costly

I ~ , , , , ~ ~

O L ~ m u ~ u m m r u


26/44

Interesting things can be done with midwings. n

955

Ray Stits designed this single-seater SA-SA Flut-R-Bug.

Inboard ends of wings detached from fuselage and swung upward. At same t ime wing struts pivoted

on

their

bolts and wings ended

up

folded with roots upward

and

tips downward. Could fit into

odd

hangar spaces. Wing

panels were only 8 feet long overall span proved to give too poor span loading for good takeoff and climb so

2 feet were spliced to each wingtip to increase span. Tips would then touch the ground if folded ; change was

made to detachable wings racked

on

each side of the fuselage . This ship led to later two-seat Flut-R-Bugs.

on

the

canopy but just

the

top fabric

in

place

and

expe

rienced no turbulence. Then some builders of this model

began to report experiencing turbulence over the tail sur

faces in tight left turns at cruising speed. Simple, single

curvature, triangular fairings made of sheet

aluminum

and

installed

in the

angle between wing leading edges

and the

fuselage cured this

by

delaying airflow separa

tion.

Live

and learn.

As

far as we know,

no wind tunnel

tests have

been

made of small , simple

midwing

planes

designed

and

built

on

tight

budgets-not

enough such midwings have

been built

to

attract

the attention

of

the wind

tunnel

people. Probably some have been made for larger, faster

military types, but one could spend

much

time trying to

hunt

down the decades-old reports

that

resulted.

When one looks at the accompanying side-view draw

ing of

the

Grumman Wildcat, it becomes readily appar

ent that

the enclosed cockpit positioned

so

far above the

juncture of wing roots and fuselage sides could cause

no

turbulence problems. But when we look at pictures of

as

sorted smaller midwings, with the inboard ends of their

wings close to large

open

cockpits,

common

sense says

turbulence must result.

One

has to consider each mid

lages. The classic cure for

the

aerodynamic drag created

there is to install well-shaped sheet aluminum fillets hav

ing elaborate curves requiring

much

work

and

expense.

This

is one

reason why

many

low-wings have fuselages

with flat bottoms

and

sides. They can get by with

much

simpler fairings or

none

at all. The drawings

in

this ar

ticle make it easy to visualize what this

is

all about.

Read

Tony Bingelis' article

on

fairings in

the

April 1992 issue

of xp rim nt r

Now look

at the

draWings of Roscoe Turner's big rac

ing plane,

the

LTR-14. The

l OOO

-

hp

P&W Twin Wasp

engine t

hat

powered it was of

the

radial type, today often

referred to

as

a round engine. The

NACA

drag-reducing

cowling fitted

around

it was, therefore,

round as

seen

from

the

front. This dictated t

hat the

fuselage cross sec

tion should be round to blend in with it.

An

d

now

notice where

the

wings join this fuselage.

The angles are

obtuse rather than

acute. Airflow was

th

us

smooth and

easy

in

this area,

and

so even such a

fast plane

as

this could get by without large and complex

wing root fillets. Their absence left more of each wing's

inboard area

open

to

the

beneficial effect of

the

big pro

peller's slipstream. Since th

is

plane carried only the pilot,


27/44

in

little

change

of

trim

with movement of the throt-

tle. Because the midwing layout duplicates this setup,

Grumman engineers probably felt using it for the Wild

cat would help Navy pilots accustomed to biplanes to

make the transition to monoplanes.

For

the

same reason

the

Turner racer did

not

have

them

, the Wildcat also had

no

big wing root fillets. The

twin-row, 14-cylinder P W Twin Wasp engine

chosen

to power this design similarly had a round cowling that

blended into a

round

fuselage. But because this engine

was

48 inches

in

diameter compared to

the

S4

inches of

single-row radials of

the

same power, cowling diameter

was

minimized to

the

benefit of forward visibility

when

making carrier landings or firing at enemy aircraft.

To

maintain good streamline form aft of

the

engine,

the

fuselage was of quite appreciable diameter. This al

lowed the pilot seat and controls to be located completely

above

the

wing. The pilot's

head

was

thus positioned

quite high

and

therefore to

the

benefit of visibility

both

forward and to each side.

The reason

why

later

Grumman

fighters were low

wings was because

the

Wildcat's landing gear track

had

to

be made quite narrow to retract

into the

fuselage. It

was too narrow to handle the enormous propeller torque

created by more powerful engines. The reason why

the

Vought

F4U

Corsair used

an

inverted gull wing was be

cause this layout retained

the

midwing's simple, clean,

wing-to-fuselage

juncture while

also

enabling short

light, sturdy landing gear legs to be positioned well out

from

the

fuselage centerline. The more

one

looks

into

and thinks about the design features of any successful air

plane, the better one appreciates

the amount

of engineer

ing talent

put

into it.

Many

racing planes

of

the

1930s and 1940s were

of the

midwing

type. Their short wingspans allowed

streamlined steel tube struts or tie rods

to

be used

with

favorable

bracing

angles.

The design and

construc-

tion of two-spar-braced wings was well understood by

airplane builders of those days, and they were compara

tively easy

and

inexpensive to build.

The quest for speed led deSigners into cantilever wings

that

reqUired increasingly sophisticated engineering

as

speeds

and

stresses increased. The midwing configuration

allowed such wings

to

be simply, lightly,

and

strongly at

tached

to the fuselage framework. Airfoils tended to be

quite

thin

for the sake of speed, and it was a challenge

to retract

landing

gears

into the

available space. Again,

the

midwing configuration worked well because landing

gears could be retracted into

the

ample fuselage space in

the

area below the wing.

Mention

has

been made of

the

similarity between

biplanes and

midwings in

regard to

minimal change

of trim with

changes

in throttle

setting. Flying racing

planes around closed courses called for as much skill

and

concent ration as does driving

an

Indianapolis ra

ce

car

The planes flew very fast

and not

very far above

the

ground. Pilots must watch instruments, get into position

to round pylons,

and

keep track of competing planes.

It

would be easy to lose sight of altitude for even a mo

ment and

let

the

plane

fly

into the ground.

We

wondered

if

the

midwing's minimal change of trim was one of the

reasons those race pilots liked

the

type, so we asked

no

less

an

authority than Steve Wittman about it.

He replied that yes,

they

were aware

of

this

and

ap

preciated it, but it was not

the

major reason for choos

ing midwings.

When

simple-to-build wings braced with

streamlined tie rods were used,

the

layout

lent

itself

to

fastening

both

upper

and

lower rods to

the

fuselage .

As

in

the

Turner racer, there could be streamlining advan

tages. Both low-wings

and

midwings afforded good visi

bility ahead

when

racers banked around pylons. Minimal

change of trim came

as

a welcome bonus.

Compared to high-wing monoplanes, the downward

visibility of midwings is fundamentally poor. Very few


28/44

position. That's why some racing

and aerobatic ships are low-wings.

On the other hand, light mid

wings intended for sport flying

usually have engines of modest

weight,

and

to get proper balance

pilot

seats are located

where

wings

join

the

fuselage. In such ships

downward visibility can be nil.

This

might not

bother

a pilot who

normally

flies cross-country

over

monotonous terrain, but could

be

considered

unacceptable

by

one

who

likes

to

fly over scenic regions.

The midwing design finds applications today. Above Pushy Cat has its

It's worth noting that

TE M Inc.

wing

on

the propeller thrust line. Does

65

mph on a 200-cubic-inch

n-

offers

customers

a

choice between

gine. Below the popular miniMAX ultralight uses the midwing idea to

its midwing

MiniMAX

and high

simplify construction and reduce weight compared to a high-wing. Tall

wing

Hi-MAX.

vertical tail carries a useful amount of its area above turbulence coming

Openings or windows

on fuse

back

from

cockpit

in op n

models.

general-purpose civilian midwings have been manufac

tured because of this. But there

is

variation in downward

visibility among midwings. The high cockpit positioning

on the Grumman

Wildcat offered quite good visibility

not

only ahead,

but

also to each side,

and

fighter pilots

seldom have need

to

look directly below. A low-wing

with low-set cockpit and a lot of dihedral can offer poorer

visibility to the side, it should be noted.

lage sides of

midwings have

been

much

used as a way

to improve

downward

visibility.

In some

cases

the

visibility gain

has

been

mar

ginal, in

others quite worthwhile .

Punch

a small hole

in

a

piece

of

paper. When

you

hold the paper

some

inches ahead

of

one

of

your

eyes

you can see little

through

the

hole.

But your arc

of vision

increases

substantially

the

closer

you bring the

card to

your

eye .

The

same

effect

governs

the visibility

through

airplane

windows. Study

the

illustrations

used in

these ar

ticles and evaluate

how

different shoulder-Wings and

midwings

rate

in this

regard.

Some years ago

we corresponded with

Robert

Thompson]r.

(now

deceased)

of Ohio

. He was very

well-informed

on Heath light

planes, and

in

discuss

ing the Heath

Center-Wing,

he stated

that

it was a

much

better

windy-day

plane

than

was

the

Parasol.

In the air, this

had

something to do with the fact


29/44

than other types. When plunging into a gust, drag

acting on a high-mounted wing causes a momen

tary

tail-down

action. In the case of a low-wing it

would cause a nose-down action. Ison of TEAM

and

Schlitter

of

RANS

said they have not noticed

this

effect,

but

that

might

be because

their planes

are quite light.

Probably

what we read applies to

heavier

and

faster midwings. Read

Exploring

the

Parasol

Monoplane

in

the

March 1993 issue of -

perimenter; note particularly the drawing on page

20 and

interpolate to

midwings.

With less wing drag compared

to

biplanes,

mono

planes have

become

popular

among aerobatic pi

lots,

and

many monoplanes

are midwings.

Lower

drag translates into better performance in the spec

tacular upward-zooming maneuvers now so much a

part

of

competition

and air

show

work.

The mini

mal

change of trim

with

throttle movement that

has long made biplanes

popular

similarly makes the

midwing

configuration advantageous in

aerobatic

work. The

simple

but

very

strong attachment of

wing

to

fuselage is

an advantage

when

vigorous use

of the ailerons is made.

Some midwings have

no dihedral,

others

a notice

able amount. Flat

wings

are often

seen

on racers

and aerobatic ships. Having no dihedral

can

simplify

the

construction

of box spars for cantilever wings.

Sometimes a

one-piece

cantilever

wing

turns

out

to

be

both

lighter and stronger

than

a similar one

consisting of

three

panels

connected with

steel fit

tings. Often the absence of dihedral can make a mid

wing respond to the ailerons faster or make it handle

better in inverted flight. A

designer has

to

think of

many things.

On the other hand, dihedral

is

common

on

light

midwings

intended

for

sport

flying. We have seen

nothing in airplane design textbooks on

midwing

di

hedral. In

the

early 1960s

EAA

published a softcover

book entitled E Aircraft File Number 3, DESIGN,

Volume 1. On page 22 is an article by Bill Meadow

croft on Dihedral Effects. The calculations it pres

ents use a midwing design as a subject.

in Wolfgang Langewiesche's well-known book

Stick

and Rudder has something

to

say

about

spiral dives,

which are to full-size planes

what

spiral stability

is

to

free-flight models.

Cockpit entry

and

exit can be more of a problem

to

the

designer

of

a

midwing

than

other

types.

In

ships

having

the cockpit between the wing roots it's

usual

to

provide a step of some sort at a

convenient

location on the side of the fuselage

and

a step pad or

walkway on

the

wing root. Some sort of handhold

is also

needed,

especially

in

taildraggers, by

which

a pilot

can

lower

himself

into and pull

himself up

out of the seat. Wire-braced midwings like the Buhl

Bull Pup are nice

in

this

respect, because

the

cabane

struts

to

which the overhead wing tie rods are at

tached

also serve as a convenient

and sturdy hand

hold. Such struts also provide pilot protection in the

event

of a nose-over.

Strut-braced mid

wings such

as

the miniMAX

and

RANS aerobatic models have

no

such overhead

structures.

The

former

is

boarded from ahead of the

wing

by means of

a

step

in

the

fuselage

just

above

the

landing gear. The RANS

planes have projecting

footsteps

on

their fuselages

and

pads

on the tops

of

their rear wing spars and are boarded from behind

the wing.

It's easy to step from the ground

to

the wingwalk

of a lOW-Wing,

but

in some

designs

one must

then

clamber over a rear wing strut to

reach

the cockpit.

But

once up

on the

wingwalk of a midwing,

the

path

to the

cockpit is

clear.

In

small parasol monoplanes

there's often

not much

clearance

between

the top of

the fuselage and underside of the wing, which calls

for some squirming to get in and

out.

Turbulent airflow and therefore much drag can be

created by the combination of a usefully high wind

shield ahead of an open cockpit, the cabane struts,

and

the

underside of

the

wing

of

a

parasol

mono

plane. Based

on

Heath Parasol components, the 1929

Church Midwing was much cleaner in this area and

appreciably faster. Plans for it are in the 1931 Flying

and Glider Manual reprint available from EAA (and

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


30/44

BY ROBERT G

LO

CK

Some

thoughts

on

restoration

and

airworthiness

As the

aviation

industry contin-

ued

to grow

in the middle

1920s,

Congress,

in an attempt to

create a

uniform

set of regulations govern

ing aviation, created the Aeronautics

Branch of

the

Department

of Com

merce. The Aeronautics Branch (re

nam

ed

the

Bureau of

Air

Commerce

in

1934) began to create new docu

ments, one of which was Aeronautics

Bulletin

7H

(right, top). This docu

ment spelled

out the

first published

data on making repairs to certificated

aircraft in the United States. The pub

lication date

was

January

I

1936.

This was

the

first data published

to

aid mechanics

in

accomplishing re

pairs and alterations of aircraft.

By

1938

the

government contin

ued

to

evolve its oversight

of

avia

tion by creating the Civil Aeronautics

Administration

CAA).

It

created

the

Civil Aviation Regulations

(CAR)

and

Civil Aviation Manuals (CAM).

Re-

quirements for approved type certifi

cates

(ATC)

were

now contained in

· c r ; ~ ~ , · ? : . ;

U. S.

DEPARTMENT OF COMMERCE

...H.p..n.Soc:.oocorv

CIVIL AERONAUTICS A DMINISTRAHON

o . . w H

- o I h > . ~

MAINTENANCE , REPAIR, AND AlTERATION

OF CERTIFICATED

AIRCRAFT, AIRCRAFT

ENGINES,

PROPELLERS,

AND

INSTlWMENTS

AS M£N

OED JUNE t

1941

CIVIL AERONAUTICS MANUAL

inspected for issuance of a permanent

airworthiness certificate,

then upon

the

restoration of

that

aircraft, appli

cation would be made to the FAA and

a conformity inspection would have

to be completed before a new perma

nent

certificate could be issued.

As the workload

for

CAA inspectors

increased, a new method of licensing

was

created. The designated airworthi

ness main tenance inspector

(DAM )

was selected as a means to license air-

craft annually. These selected

DAMls

were well-experienced, certificated

Aircraft

and

Engine (A&E) mechan

ics who were hand-selected by local

CAA

maintenance inspectors. The

air-

worthiness certificate

was

still reissued

every 12 calendar months, but in the

middle 1950s, about the time the

CAA

evolved

into the

FAA

(Federal

Avia-

tion Agency), things began to change

for airworthiness certificates. They be

came permanent. The aircraft could

be relicensed every year by the

DAM .

When the

CAA

evolved into the

FAA

r i t ~

UWlSE W.,..,

BE

UNITED STATES Of' AUERIC . . . . . . .CRAFT

i ! 1 t O : . ' : ~ Y E O CIVIL

AERONAUTICS

~ ~ O R l t y .

U . : = ~ :

• . .).mclW1 AIRlYORTHINESS AUTBORIZATION" ,


31/44

! ~ ; ; ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ : : :

S o ~ t r o

J

NottobcUceedcd)

: iMuimuOl

pa . Io&d ;,,,... . ....... , •••••• , . .7J L

.......Iba.

w;th Iud

ol . •...... .... ......

....

~ = , .

: : : : ~ ~

; ' ; : ~ ; ; . J

J { : : : ~ : ~ » ~ :

~ ~ ~ : ~ ~

: : : : : : ~ : : : : : : . ~

l i THIS

CERm:t£S diu ait t _acribH don

hu

til

wJCCled

and

. .....,a

0, tt:.. IJpt; . ......

' 1 1 I i . ~ . t n l t « U J t i u f t M - ' . - ' u « ~ C U K t l s f l l P l l l l r e c d p t

a - . I

.,

1 i . ~ ~ ~ 6 1 ... . ..

: : Owner

IlIIiZ r;: .

~ A ~ : :

~ ~ ~ :

: : : : R Q . ~ : : m ~ ~ ~

;8 oForm

60 8

Figure 1.

IS iI

us ration above s a copy taken

'AA

air

worthiness paperwork file. The original registration number NC150M has

been assigned

to

another airplane due

to

inactivity. These early airworthi

ness certificates were issued annually and therefore had an expiration

date. Note that the airworthiness certificate is signed by a CAA inspector

as mechanics could not relicense aircraft in those days.

Figure 2 . The Wright engine instal

lation

in

my Command-Aire.

the

word

Agency" was dropped in

favor of "Administration." And

that

is what

it

is today,

the

Federal

Avia

tion

Administration.

Government

control

and

bureaucracy

continues

to grow ever larger.

While we are

on

the subject of the

FAA and

airworthiness, perhaps

an

easy method to

distinguish

differ

ences between a major repair

and

a

major alteration

is to

apply

the

fol

lowing: 1)

I f the

repair

returns the

aircraft to its original type certificate,

affects airworthiness,

and

cannot

be

done

using elementary techniques,

then

it

is

a major repair;

2)

If

the

re

pair (or modification) alters confor

mity to

the

original type certificate,

then

it

is

a major alteration.

If an

A&P

mechanic cannot

ap

prove a

major

repair

or alteration,

then

a "field approval" by an

FAA

was January 1,1986,

and

the date of

issuance was July 16, 1990. Perhaps

a future story

on FAA

field approvals

could prove interesting. This

STC is

a

one-time approval for installation of

Figure 3.

Ci2

] GiZ..

7b C 6Z r I RcAn : :

/.

CNc,/

.l./E ~

( / A J

P

vu..

7E'Sr

~ / J J E ' I:J

cce;S( ) I2 le

70

8G

JIJ

STJliu-E' i ) . A::>12.

P o

(H

.

u


32/44

l

Nearing the end of a very long day and a successful engine mount pull

test . That s me

to

the left not looking very happy) and my father, Leon-

a

rd

to

the right.

In

the center

is FAA

inspector

AI

Strickfaden.

If

we

look slightly overheated,

it

was due to a temperature of over

100

°F

in

my shop when we completed the test

in

late afternoon.

a Wright R-760-8 engine

in

NC997E.

The STC required

an

engine mount

pull test to 7.441s; I believe this was

beyond the limits of design

in

1929.

But it was either do the test or cancel

the STC application, so I did the test

Figure 2 shows the Wright engine in

stallation in my Command-Aire.

The FAA required an engine mount

pull test. I constructed a very simple

"I" beam arrangement and made the

problem into a weight-and-balance

solution .

By

calculating

the amount

of

pull to be exerted on the

engine

mount structure, I used the axle cen

terline as a fulcrum

point

and deter

mined how much weight to place on

a plywood mount I had fabricated at

the horizontal stabilizer attach points.

Figure 3 shows my notes on how

to conduct the pull

test.

Adding

SO-pound bags

of

glass beads

pro-

vided a down load in the aft fuselage,

thus causing a downward pull on

the

engine

mount structure . It worked

forms to its original type certificate. I

Sometimes this is very difficult, espe

cially if the original type design data

is missing. At the FAA headquarters in

Washington, D.

C,

I have seen file cab

inets with drawers containing type de

sign data. Just like in Joe Juptner's

U S

Civil Aircraft books, each drawer had

folders with the original ATC number

at the top. Some of the folders con

tained data; some folders were empty.

When the folder was empty, the FAA

has

no

type

design

data

other

than

the data that is published in Aircraft,

Engine and Propeller Listing, which is

very limited.

Just what is type design data, you

ask? Upon original granting of the

ATC to Command-Aire for my airplane

in March 1927, type design data was

in the

form

of

draWings, engineering

data, photographs, and any other type

of data required by the Aeronautics

Branch of the Department, and later

the CAA for manufacturing approval

aft center of gravity loading, a loading

schedule

(if

required), and appropriate

placarding must be included. A list of

reqUired, optional, and special equip

ment must accompany the weight-and

balance data. And lastly,

FAA

Form 337

(Major Repair

and

Major Alteration)

must be completed by the supervising

A P

/IA

. Aircraft and engine logbooks

must have appropriate entries made by

authorized individuals, and registration

data must be shown.

After many months or

should

I say years) of restoration work, per

haps that

small piece of paper

that

says PERMANENT AIRWORTHINESS

CERTIFICATE-STANDARD is now

in

your hand. Categories of

the

Air

worthiness Certificate are: NORMAL,

UTILITY,

and

ACROBATIC Types of

certificates are: STANDARD (NC), RE-

STRICTED (NR), LIMITED (NL),

and

EXPERIMENTAL (NX).

ATC data is also known as type de

sign data. Type design data

can

be

found in the Aircraft Listing Engine

Listing and Propeller Listing an FAA

publication for fewer than SO airplanes

registered,

and the

Aircraft Engine

and

Propeller

Specifications

for the "middle

aged" aircraft, with more than SO air

planes registered.

For the older

vintage

airplanes

the above is the only type

design

data available. If you are really lucky

there may be copies

of

original fac

tory drawings available as a valuable

supplement. However, most

of

the

factory drawings for many antique air

craft have been destroyed or the FAA

will not release them . For the Waco


33/44

•

CR NKSH FT

GRINDING •

CR NKSH FT B L NCING

•

C MSH FT

GRINDING

• M GN FLUXING

•

CONNECTING RODS

•

ST RTER D PTERS

• ROCKER

RMS

• ULTR SONIC INSPECTIONS

•

T PPET BODIES

• CUSTOM M CHINING

•

COUNTERWEIGHTS

•

PL TING

Every part is the tightest Original Equipment Manufacturers specifications.

Our quality control continually tests repairs nd certifies new repairs to keep the


34/44

BY DOUG STEWART

Weight wait, don't tell me

Not

too

long ago, a potential cli

ent

called

me

seeking training for a

tailwheel endorsement.

He

had heard

that

I conducted

the

training

in

my

Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser

and

was

hoping that he would fit inside. Need

less to

say,

the bells and whistles went

off

inside

my

head. Fit inside? I

asked. Umm, yeah, he replied, you

see,

I'm

a little

on the

heavy side.

Well,

how

much

do you weigh? I

asked.

You

are aware

that

there

is

a

maximum

certified weight limit for

the airplane that

we

can't exceed.

I weigh

about

330

pounds, he

answered. Doing

a

quick

calcula

tion in

my

head

I realized

that

be

tween us, plus

the empty

weight of

the

airplane, we

would be

close

to

max

gross weight,

and

that

wasn't

even accounting for

any

fuel. That

will be

pushing our

weight limits,

I

responded,

but

if we

start with

only

half

fuel we should be okay.

You

realize, though,

that

in

order

to

remain within

the

center of grav

ity envelope you will have to sit in

tleman.

However, I

must

say

that

this was not

the

first

time

I

had

Documents

Vintage Airplane - May 2009