Vintage Airplane - Nov 2009

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Nov 2009

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GEOF

RO ISON

PRESIDENT VINTAGE IRCR FT ASSOCIATION

uthority nd

potentials

W

nter is

now

on the ho

rizon

here at

home.

With the holidays

just

around

the

corner, it

won't

be

long

before

Old Man Winter will be barking at

us

yet again.

Oh

well,

my

attitude

has always been that

the

sooner

it gets

here, the sooner

it's over." I

clearly

remember just a few months

ago reflecting

about how long this

past

winter seemed

to

hang

around

here in Indiana.

I t

was a long and

brutal one

that I sure

hope

we don't

see repeated.

As I

am

writing this column, I just

returned from Oshkosh.

A

bunch

of our Vintage Aircraft

Association

VAA) volunteers always get

together

in

early

October to winterize our

campers that we use throughout

the

year

when

we

attend the

work parties

and

various

other

EAA

events.

It's

always a fun and laid-back weekend

lacking

the routine hustle and bus

tle of preparing for EAA AirVenture

Oshkosh. Although we didn't have

the best of weather this past weekend,

val held every Labor Day weekend in

Auburn, Indiana. If you haven't had

the

opportunity to ride in a New Stan

dard,

you

really need to

experience

this aircraft. The crew

of

the

New

Standard is a bunch of crazy wing

nuts,

so we

had

a really

good time

hosting

them

for this event. Many

thanks

to

"Scooter"

and

his crazy cast

The world of

sport

vi tion

continues

to

f ce

unprecedented

ch llenges ~ our

right

to

fly

of aviators for a fun-filled weekend.

Our chapter also hosted

the

2009

Stinson fly-in at Auburn in mid

October. This

was also a fun week

see why I use the term "busy."

Many

thanks also go out

to

all

of

the local

chapter volunteers who supported

us in

hosting

all of these events. We

simply

couldn't do

it

without

you

The world of sport aviation

con

tinues to

face

unprecedented

chal

lenges to our right to fly. I t seems

to me as though

nearly every

layer

of

government regulators seems to

think

that

they

aren't

doing th eir

job unless they

periodically fire a

shot across our bow to make sure we

haven't

forgotten about their

au

thority." But recently

there

was a bill

introduced

in the

House

of Repre

sentatives

that

will potentially limit

their

authority to arbitrarily regulate

those

of us who are engaged in

this

pleasure we call aviation.

On September 30, a good number

of genera-aviation-minded representa

tives introduced

HR

3678,

that

would

rein in

the

Department of Homeland

Security's DHS) absolute power to is-

sue security directives that severely

impact aviation. It seems

as

though

the

DHS

has ruffled some

feath

ers


3/44

ov

B

VOL. 37, No .

2009

CONTENTS

I e Straight Level

Authority

and potential

s

by Geoff Robison

2

News

4 Rotary

Dreams The

Restoration

of a Pitcairn PA-I8 Autogiro

The Reserv_e Grand C

hampion

Antique

of EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh 2009

by H.G. Frautschy with Nick Hurm

16

Miss

Champion

Pitcairn-Cierva Autogiro PCA-2

by

Carl

Gunther and

Gene Chase

4

The Vintage Mechanic

Materials Processes, Part 2

by Robert G. Lock

8

Light Plane Heritage

The Mummert Cootie

by Jack McRae

32 The Vintage Instructor

All available info

by Doug Stewart

34

Mystery Plane

by H.G. Frautschy

39 Classified Ads

1921

wMMfJlI

CQQ]]£

LAWRANCE ENG I

NE

j

j

STAFF

EAA Publisher

Tom Poberezny

Director of EAA Publications

Mary Jones

Executive Director/Editor H.G . Frautschy

Production/Special

Project

Kathleen Wit man

Photography

Jim Koepnick

Bonnie

Kratz

Advertis ing

Coordina tor

Sue Anderson

Classified Ad

Coordina tor

Les

l

ey Pobe

rezny

Copy Edit

or

Colleen

Wa lsh

Director of Advertising Katrina Bradsha w


4/44

Sully

and

Skiles New Young

Eagles Co-Chairs

Sully Sullenberger (left) and Jeff

Skiles, co-chairs of the E Young Eagles

program.

EAA

members expressed surprise and excite

ment

wh en it was announced

September 29 that US Airways Flight 1549 pilots Chesley Sully Sullenberger

and Jeff Skiles would be the new co-chairs

of EANs

Young Eagles program.

Many people have contacted me and said what a great choice; it was unex

pected,

but

what a great choice fo r the next step

to

lead

the

Young

Eag

les pro

gram;' said EAA President/Chairman Tom Poberezny. You can read more

about

the new co-chairmen on page

81

of

fAA

Sport Avi

t

ion.

Since vintage aircraft make

up the

majority

of

the lightplane general-aviation

fleet,

it

probably comes as no surprise

to

learn that the majority of the 1 5 million

Young Eagles flown

so

far were flown in aircraft built

priorto

1971, and one

of

the new Young Eagles chairmen expects that trend to continue for him in a very

personal way; you can read an interview

with

Jeff Skiles and

see

a slide show

of his new Waco

YOC

in issue No. 3

of

Vintage Aircr

ft

Online

the

VANs

newest

member benefit. You can access

it

online at www. .org/ vintageaircraft.

E Responds

Immediately

still trying to fix their broken busi

to Anti-GA

Airport

Stories ness model by inflaming

the

public

Inaccurate

cl

imsthat

sm

al irportsreceive with one-sided media stories, said

di

sproportion

te

mo unt of fede

r l money

Tom Poberezny,

EAA

chairman/presi

than

do

GA

airports,

and

GA

users

pay five times

more

in fuel taxes

than the airlines to support the air

traffic control system, the primary

users of which are the airlines.

EAA agrees with

one

item from

the

US oday

story-the nation s

small airports are underutilized, Po-

berezny said.

If

major

hub

airports

are overcrowded but smaller airports

are

ready and

eager to serve avia

tion, why would

it

make

any

sense

to wage war on small airports? They

are all essential parts of the nation's

transportation system.

E er

Keys

Mexican

ElT Rule

Extension

Thanks to

coordination efforts

by EAA member Rick Gardner, EAA

791548, of travel service provider

Ca-

ribbean

Sky

Tours, the Mexican gov

ernment extended its emergency lo

cator transmitter

(ELT)

rules through

April 2010 for general-aviation air

craft flying in Mexico. The extension

provides a procedure

that

will allow

certain U.S. pilots operating 121.5

MHz

ELTs

to fly into Mexicothrough

April 2, 2010. After that date, all

general-aviation aircraft flying

into

Mexico must be equipped with an

operable 406 MHz

ELT.

Gardner and his wife, Pia, own

ers and operators of Cancun, Mex

ico-based Caribbean Sky Tours, are

longtime AirVenture and Sun n Fun

exhibitors and regularly conduct fo-


5/44

cil of the Mexican Federation of Pi-

lots

(FEMPPA)

and are

an

authorized

distributor for INEGI,

the

Mexican

charting office,

which

allows us

to

stay abreast of Mexican aeronautical

issues

and

products.

TS and

DHS

Merge Border Flight

Crossing Procedures

Two Department of Homeland

Se-

curity

(DHS)

agencies recently merged

their

border

security

programs to

eliminate

redundancy

as well as

the

paperwork

burden

of

international

travelers.

The Transportation

Secu

rity dministration 's (TSA) Interna-

tional Waiver program will be folded

into Customs and Border Protection's

(CBP) Advanced Passenger Informa

tion System

(APIS).

This will satisfy a

commitment

made at AirVenture 2009 by TSA s new

general-aviation manager, Brian De

lauter, and

CBP s

APIS

program man

ager, Eric Rodriguez, to improve the

border-crossing procedure for general

aviation pilots through collaboration.

The info merger will allow pilots

to

complete only the

CBP

electronic

APIS

paperwork to

fly

across

U.S

. borders.

EAA, which has advocated for a less

onerous system, has prepared a guide

on how to navigate the current

re

quirements until the new process

is fi-

nalized. That

is

available

at www.EAA.

org/news/2009/2009 0S 21_cbp.asp.

V Volunteer of the Year Awards

During the fall board meeting,

Jim

Swol

(right)

was presented with

a

commemora-

tive

clock

and a certificate

commemorating his

selection as the

2009

Art Morgan V

Flightline Volunteer of the Year.

E

ch

year

the Vintage Aircraft Association honors two

of

its

own

for

their service

to

the VAA

and its members during the annual

convention.

As

it

is every year,

it's

tough to pick

just

one

person

for such an

honor

, but this

year

was especially

challenging

, as we had a

fantastic group

of

volunteers

step it

up

an

extra notch

during

the months

prior

to

this

year's amazing event, and

during

the

convention .

The Art Morgan VAA Flightline Volunteer

of

the Year

comes

to us all the way from the state

of Maine

. For

years we have

both marveled

and

worried at

the

willingness

of

the

VAA

flightline

volunteers to

keep

going

and do

whatever was requested

of

them,

and Jim

Swol epitomizes that

vo l

unteer work

ethic-

always

on

the

spot,

doing

what

needs to be done, year

after year.

The

VAA

Behind the Scenes

Volunteer

of the Year is actually

a

twosome this

year.

The way

beyond-the

-

call

-of-duty work

spearheaded

by

these

two volunteers

made

it

possible for us to com

plete

the

Vintage

Hangar on time and under budget. Thanks to the

work

by

Archie

James and

Michae

l

B

ombach, this year s honorees for

the

award,

the 40 -pl

us

volunteers

who helped finish out the proj

ect

were kept busy

and focused so

that we could

all enjoy

our new facilities when

AirVenture

started.

Our sincere admirat

ion

and heartfelt thanks to Jim

Swol,

Archie James, and

Mi

chael Blombach

for their hard work .

Congratulations

, gentlemen

EAA

Share

the pirit Sweepstakes This new Aviat

Husky

could be

yours.

It's on The 2010 EAA Share the Spirit Sweep

stakes website is now live, and with it, your chance

to flyaway in the grand prize a brand new, fully


6/44


7/44


8/44

s

what would a former high

school track star, Army Spe

cial Ops soldier, and para

chute

ace

want

for a vintage

aircraft? If you re a guy like

Jack Tiffany of Spring Valley, Ohio,

you'd go for the most unusual thing

you could

find-an

Autogiro.

There was only one problem for

the energetic Tiffany, a Vietnam vet

eran now in his seventh decade; he

couldn t

find

one to

restore.

Other

neat

projects came

and

went for

his laid-back confederation of re

storers that bill themselves as Lead

ing Edge Aircraft (liOn the Trailing

Edge

of Technology is its motto). A

HG fRAUT SCHY


9/44

served as a volunteer judge at

EAA

AirVenture

Oshkosh),

he got a bo

nus in the bargain, Kate's son, Nick.

The

young boy soon

became

as en

amored as his stepfather with avia

tion

,

and

as a teenager Nick

becam

e

quite the aviation sleuth, digging

up

tidbits of

handy

aviation knowledge .

That tenacity would payoff in 1999,

when

he came to Jack with the reve

lation that there was an Autogiro out

there

that could

be restored.

In

fact,

there were two

It

didn't

take

long

for

Jack

and

Nick

to

track

down Al

Letcher of Mo

jave, California. AI a

longtime

col

lector of vintage aircraft,

had

bought

the remains of a Pitcairn PA-18 from

Ted Sowirka, who had owned it for

43 years. But

how

it came

to

be in his

hands is a story that will warm

the

heart of many

a

potential

restorer

who still has hopes of finding his

own aeronautical Holy Grail.

istory

The Pitcairn

PA-18 Autogiro was

created

by

the

company after the

firm had created quite a

name

for it

self with the PCA-2 Autogiro, a large,

expensive craft

that

was bought

by

a

few firms for its novel appearance,

which, since

it

attracted a lot of at

tention,

made it a suitable platform

for advertising. But

the

PCA-2

with

a

300-hp Wright Whirlwind

on the

nose and a 4S-foot rotor span was

a

big

rotorcraft. It could carry three

with ease, and its hulking presence

on

the ground made it hard to miss.

("Autogiro with a capital A is the

spelling coined by

the

Cierva Auto-

Since it is a fixed-spindle system,

the

rotor head

is

relatively simple.

The cables and the bungee cords

attached to them act as limit stops

when the rotor is rotating slowly or

is stopped.To the sides of the rotor

attach hinges are the squarish rub

ber pads that, in combination with

the dampers installed farther out on

each blade, act to

dampen

and limit

the lead/lag movement of each rotor

blade as it flies around the rotor disc.

To the

left is the pre-rotator gearbox,

which engages with the helical spur

By necessity, the rotor blades are quite flexible, which require the trailing

edge

of each blade to be segmented. This leather patch on

the

trailing edge covers

one of

the

slip joints on

the

trailing edge.


10/44

After arriving

in

Jim Hammond's shop,

the

Pitcairn's pieces

were assembled as much as possible so the restorers

could get a better idea of just what they had.

A restorable PA-18 rotor head and pre-rotator gearbox

was obtained from Steve Pitcairn, and thanks to his inter

est

in

his father's company history, Steve was also able to

supply a set of drawings so Phil

Riter

could build a new

rotor mast.

The rotors were complete, with steel spars that were

After 60-plus years, it's not surprising that the blade rub

inspected and deemed airworthy. All-new wood com

ber dampers were not usable, so a new set were cast us ponents were used to restore

the

blades.

With the

expe

ing new urethane rubber material with the correct 90

rience of building the first set,

the

Leading Edge gang

durometer hardness.

giro

Company

for aircraft produced

under

license; the generic term au

togyro applies

to

all rotary-winged

aircraft with unpowered rotors;

the

FAA simply avoids the entire issue

continued to build blades as spares.

of aircraft led him to a collaborative

agreement between his

company

and Juan de la Cierva, the inventor

of the Autogiro. Assigned the exclu

sive rights to license and produce

nero One

version was built with the

Chevrolair engine and an odd tail

wheel/nose wheel configuration.

The PAA-1 was well-received but

it was

considered

significantly

un


11/44

Fifty-four

individual

ribs

are

in

each blade,

for

a total of

216 ribs in

each set of

four

blades. Each was routed out using a CNC

machine, and then the

ribs

are secured to the

tubular steel spar

using

bolts and a flange.

Since the original wood parts were sig

nificantly deteriorated after being stored

outside

for

many years, they needed a

complete restoration. A major portion of

the wing and aileron rebuild was done

by

Jan Lavally.

the terrestrial traffic down below.

Landing

on the

beach in front of

the

cottage

proved

to be a simple

matter,

and

tucking it neatly

on the

NTIQUE LERT

NOTICE

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ttal

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W ,

011

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photo. to

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Lou.nabury of the

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be tryial to P'l' it la

but.

peopl. at Lb.. n.ld

did

80t

at .... m. that

hnpr

•• • toa .

Warna D. Shipp

81.2 Cro'IfD Stre.'

Brooklye

11,

N. Y.

In

1954, Warren Shipp had spotted the forlorn Pitcairn sitting at a Penn

sylvania airport.

Two

of

his

photos and a brief write-up pleading

its

case

were published

in

the first issue of American

Airman

magazine.

increase

in

horsepower to 160,

pumped out by a

Kinner

R-5

engine.

It

still had a fixed-spin

dle rotor system,

which

meant

that

all

control of the

aircraft

was affected using aerodynamic

controls, that is, rudder, eleva

tor,

and

ailerons

mounted on

the stub wings. Direct

control

of

the

rotor head was being ac

tively worked

on

at

this point,

but

it would be

months

before

the system was perfected so

that

it would allow

the

dispensing of

th

e stub wings.

In March of

1932, serial

number

G-65,

the

fourth

PA-18

off

the

factory line, was deliv

ered

as

the

personal aircraft of

the company

preSident,

and

it was

also used

as

a factory demonstrator.

Harold Pitcairn

had

a great deal of

affection for the

little

Autogiro as

the

situation straightened

out,

he

hit

the fence so

that

my little 'giro is

minus a set of blades.

When

I came

out

of Church,

it

was

standing up

on

its nose. I patted it gently

and

all

it said was 'cheep' 'cheep.lII

He wouldn t be the first per

son taken

in

by the

charms

of the

little Autogiro. This particular PA

18,

registered as

NC12678,

was

kept

by

Harold

until

it was sold in

1935.

Anne

West Strawbridge was

an

adventuresome

spirit who

had

climbed

mountains and

was

an

ac

complished artist and author. A

little

side

note-on

the Web and

in other

publications

an incorrect

connection was made between Miss

Strawbridge

and the

Strawbridge &

Clothier

department

store fortune.

In fact, according to her great grand

nephew

, she was the

daughter

of a

doctor

from Maine,

whose

family


12/44


13/44

and

one

of

the most

accomplished

Autogiro pilots

in history.

While

there

is fascinating mate

rial

to learn more

about in Auto

giro history, we

need

to skip a few

years

ahead to complete

the

his

tory of NC12678.

It s 1939,

and

thanks

to the

German U-boat men

ace, the British are having a devil of

a time

getting their

war effort

and

nation supplied via

convoy

across

the

North

At lantic. Looking

at

any

means at their disposal to gain an

advantage in knowing where the

U-

boats

were

lurking, the

British

contracted with the Pitcairn-Larsen

Autogiro Company, a successor to

the original company set up by Har

old

Pitcairn,

to remanufacture

the

remaining PA-18s into sub-spotting

Autogiros that could operate from

small decks

on

ships within

the

con

voys. Using the PA-18

as

a base gave

them a quick start on the creation of

an Autogiro suitable for the purpose.

Technological advances in rotor

and flight

control

systems, includ

ing

the

now perfected direct-control

rotor head, gave the remanufactured

aircraft,

now

called

the

PA-39, im

proved performance,

and the

in

stallation of a 16S-hp Warner Super

Scarab gave it added reliability. All

the company had to do was buy back

the remaining PA-18 Autogiros from

the owners,

run

them through the

remanufacturing process, and then

load

them on

ships for delivery

to

the United

Kingdom.

That s

just

what they did with all of

them

. All of

them

except one. Anne West Straw

bridge's Autogiro wasn't

on

the list.


14/44

to England. Three were lost at sea in

a torpedoing of the cargo ship carry

ing

them, with

at least one remain

ing in the States, where it was used

for research and development work.

There is

one PA-39

remaining,

re

stored

and

on display in EAA's Pit

cairn Hangar on Pioneer Airport, a

gift of Harold Pitcairn's son, Stephen.

After civilian flying was banned

for the duration of the war along the

East Coast, Anne never again flew her

beloved 'giro. She died in 1941 at the

age of 58, willing the little rotorcraft

to her brother, John Strawbridge.

A few years later, just after the end

of World War

II,

the ownership of

the Autogiro flipped back and forth

a bit

unnerving, to

imagine a voice

from the sky exhort ing those on the

shore to "Eat at Joes "

Four

years

later, the Wyoming

Valley School

of

Aviation at Wilkes

Barre,

Pennsylvania

,

acquired the

Autogiro after Joseph Budjinski

of

the

school

determined, by query

ing the Civil Aviation Authority,

the most recent registered

owner.

Within the next two

years

the

school folded, and

on

July 3, 1954,

a

flight

school

on the

same

field,

Morlin Air Service, sold NC12678

to

Ted Sowirka,

who brought

the still

mostly complete giro

to Old Star

Airport

near Langhorne,

Pennsyl

vania. Most likely it was sold by the

the earliest American Aviation His

tory Association members (No. 14)

sent

a couple

of photos and

a letter

that

were published in the first issue

of

merican

irman

magazine (Sep

tember

1957),

imploring someone

to save the Autogiro

before it

was

lost

to history. That story helped

Nick Hurm track down the where

abouts of the

PA-18

. (See the photo

in this article.)

Sometime later, after those pho

tos were taken, a rogue pilfered

the

main

rotor mast, supporting struc

ture,

and

the

all-important rotor

head

and

pre-rotator mechanism

,

forcing the Autogiro's storage inside

a hangar. Ted still

intended

to re


15/44

agency dated July 1996

that

Nearly everything else on

"the aircraft has been stored

the AutOgiro could be built if

by

me

since 1954 " drawings could be obtained,

The next

month

Ted sold but the rotor head isn't some

the

project to Al Letcher of

thing

one can just whip out

Mojave, California. The next using a band saw and a lathe.

year Nick Hurm tracked Thankfully, Jack had been in

the PA-18's

whereabouts

regular contact with Steve Pit

to Al Letcher. Jack Tiffany cairn, Harold Pitcairn's son

first

made contact with

AI and a well-known

restorer

checking to see if

Al

would

and

aviation enthusiast.

be

willing

to

part with

the Steve had participated in and

Autogiro. Over the next two funded the restoration of the

Pilot Andrew King gathered

as

much written mate-

years,

during

a visit

to

Cal most famous of Pitcairn Auto

rial as he could regarding flying the PA-18 along with

ifornia by Jack, he made a giros, the PCA-2

Miss Cham-

spending considerable time interviewing both Steve

deal to restore

the

Autogiro pion and he had a spare PA-18

Pitcairn and Johnny Miller who both had extensive

for Al Letcher.

As agreed,

type rotor head that he was

experience flying Pitcairn Autogiros.

during the restoration Jack willing to sell. Steve also had

was also going

to

create a

access to a few

of the

draw

clone of the Autogiro. Jack, ings from the company, so he

giddy with the prospect, just

Still you

don t

know what you

was able to fill

in the

blanks

couldn't

keep

quiet about

for a

few

of the missing parts,

the find, and

word leaked

don t

know

and not everything

that

including

the all-important

out during the annual

EAA

fly-in

convention that

there

was available back

in

1931 had

was indeed a Pitcairn out

there to be restored. Not too

surfaced in 2008

much

later Jack heard from

Al

that

instead of allowing

Jack to restore

the

PA-18

Al

has de

cided to s ll the ship to another vin

tage airplane enthusiast.

Jack forthrightly explained

that

he didn't

think that was fair, and

that he should have the right of first

refusal on the purchase. After think

ing for a moment, Al agreed. Jack

then

said, "I

want

it!"

and

shortly

thereafter hung

up the phone,

happy that

he'd

come to an agree

ment

to buy

the

Autogiro. He

hung

up a bit too quickly it turned

out.

project

by

helping with

the

funding

to acquire the Autogiro. Within days

a truck

and

crew

consisting of

Jack

and Kate Tiffany, Herman Leffew,

Don

Siefer,

and

Herb Ware were off

to the Mojave Desert to pick up the

remains of

the

rotorcraft, still miss

ing the parts stolen from it so long

ago.

By

Thanksgiving of 1999, it was

in Jim Hammond's shop, where Jim

put all

the

pieces

they

had dragged

back to

Ohio

into a

semblance of

an Autogiro. Soon

it

was moved to

main rotor mast. Phil Riter,

a master at sheet metal work

and welding, created the new

mast and did all of the sheet

metal work for

the cowling,

including the beautiful nose-

bowl covering the Kinner.

What

often appear to be little

changes

in

a type design often wind

up being big headaches. Somewhere

along the line the little blue Autogi

ro's Kinner

R-5

engine was separated

from the airframe, and it wasn't part

of the project when it was brought to

Ohio. That's fine, a Kinner

R-5

is

rare

to

begin with, but the later version,

the

Kinner R-55, is more common,

having been used

on

the Ryan

PT

22. They're nearly identical, with the


16/44

There s plenty more photos

and other

goodies

on the

Pitcairn

at

www.vintageaircrafi·orglextraslpitcairn

ner engine experts

AI

and Brad

Ball in

Santa Paula, California.

The

other

obviously critical items

were the

main rotor

blades.

Each

of the blades, as can be seen in the

photos

accompanying this

article,

are built like a very

high-aspect

ra

tio wing, with a steel tube spar, over

which are fitted tightly spaced wood

ribs, with plywood leading edges

and

stainless steel trailing edges. One un-

After fun

cross

country from

New Carlisle

Ohio

to

Oshkosh

the PA-18 Autogiro

spent

the

summer

usual aspect

to

their construction is

the requirement for slip joints in the

trailing edge of each blade, neces

sary since

the

blades flex significantly

in flight. This flexing is important

soaking up both flight

and

structural

loads

span

wise

along

the

blades as

each blade Circumnavigates the ro

tor arc 140 times per

minute

just a

little faster

than

twice each second.

The

rotor blades that

had

been re

tained with the project were in rough

stub wings were intact, they were

re

built almost completely, built

up

en

tirely of wood. The fuselage needed a

bit of steel tubing replaced, and while

we' ll get a bit ahead of the story a bit

here, one little bit of clever engineer

ing deserves to be highlighted. During

the flight-testing phase of the restored

Pitcairn, a series of mistakes resulted

in a main rotor blade or two, or three,

contacting the top of the vertical fin. It

promptly folded over to the side, with

no damage done to the tail post or the

rest of the fuselage.

(You ll

get a chance

to read more about the incident in the

upcoming January 2010 issue of

E

Sport

Aviation

in the feature article

on

the PA-18 written by Andrew King.)

Once repairs were started,

the

rea

son

why the

fin folded so neatly be

came apparent. Pitcairn's engineers,

realizing

that

it was likely

that

a com

bination

of surface winds, low-rotor

rpm, and taxiing on the ground could

result in a rotor strike in

the

fin, sim

ply had a set of ho les drilled in the tail

post, crea ting a weaker spot on the

tube just above

the

top of the fuse

lage. Whack it with a rotor blade, and

voila, the fin flips to

the

side, damage

is minimal to

the

fuselage, and if you

were a lucky

owner

back

then

you

could call up the factory and order up

a new fin.

If

you're a restorer, you get

to

break out

your

jig

and torch and

build up a new one yourself

The Wright brothers' anniversary

in 2003 came and went, and the proj

ect wasn't done yet, but restorers were

. making good progress, and it looked

like

the

middle of the first

decade

might see it flying. But as we all know,

sometimes what you plan isn't what

http://www.xn--vintageaircrafiglextraslpitcairn-vl56f/http://www.xn--vintageaircrafiglextraslpitcairn-vl56f/


17/44

inal N

the side of ~ ~ ~ t y

172, Jack (an

ter of fact) did his hp(1t .S I t -rr ,n

owner that it would be

ated

if

the original N number

moved back to the Pitcairn. Jack

pay to have the 172 repainted with

b e r s a that

ith

th

w

a

0

see the restoration

fly

.

Johnny

Miller,

who had flown his own

PCA-2

across

the United States a full two weeks

before Amelia Earhart's flight in the

Beech-Nut gum-sponsored PCA-2, had

been regularly consulted about flying

ing to the FAA records, the last regis

tered owner was Sky Voice. The next

didn't actually execute a bill of

for the aircraft, which meant that

FAA s eyes, Jack and Leading

didn't

have a clean pa

establish ownership. Three

np'· lATf L- heck ensued for

crew firest

es during

Autogiro

operation

·

period

of

time from when the or brake is

re

leased and when the rotor has enough

speed for centrifugal force

and

lift to

keep the blades steady in their respec

made, nine years of work, more than

6,000 man-hours of restoration time,

and untold

mechanical difficulties

and paperwork hassles were about to

melt away, as mid-summer dawned

with light winds

and

just a few cirrus

clouds way up in the heavens.

Andrew and

the Autogiro

were

ready on J

with a that

ucky see just

ore Pitca giro flying as

the Posey brothers work toward

the

completion of

the only other

PA-18

known

to exist,

but

for me

and

my

son, Alden, along with EAA photog

rapher Bonnie Kratz

and out

photo

pilot Janet Davidson, the sight of the


18/44


19/44

Steve Pitcairn wipes down Miss Champion

after arrival at Oshkosh 86.

But few aircraft

caught and

held

the

public

attention

as did

the

Au-

togiro. Called flying windmills

by

news reporters

who had little

understanding of

the principles

of

autorotational flight, these strange

looking aircraft, invented by a

Spanish

engineer

named Juan

de

la Cierva, captured the hearts and

minds of

the

air-minded public be

cause

of

their

remarkable perfor

mance

coupled with a high degree

of safety. These facts

made

Auto

giros an ideal means

to

carry out

near Willow Grove,

Pennsylvania,

where Harold Pitcairn was design

ing and building these phenome

nal aircraft.

It wasn't

long

before

Champion

Vice President

M.e.

Dewitt showed

up

at

the Pitcairn Aircraft Com

pany

office

prepared to do busi

ness. Pitcairn Vice President Edwin

Asplundh

promptly

led Dewitt

out

to

the

ramp in front of the

main

hangar doors

where stood

an Au

togiro with its engine idling. In the

rear cockpit sat

Jim

Ray Pitcairn's

hour,

yet under complete

control,

and

finally

a

vertical dead-stick

landing from 500 feet

on

the exact

spot

from where

they

had departed

10 minutes earlier, with a roll

of

only 2 or 3 feet. Dewitt, who was

no

stranger to flying, climbed out

on the wing as

soon

as

the

engine

stopped,

and

with a big grin on his

face said,

I'm

impressed,

but can

our pilot

do that? Who

is your

pilot? Jim

asked. Capt. Lewis

A.

Yancey, if he can handle it, re

plied Dewitt.

I

know

Yancey,


20/44

The markings were accurately reproduced from

the

original fabric except for

Steve s

name at

the

rear cockpit.

agreement.

On paper

the agree

ment

simply states

that

in

con

sideration

of

the sum of

$15,125

in

hand paid, we

hereby

sell

and

transfer

unto Champion

Spark Plug

Company

of Toledo, Ohio,

one

Au-

togiro

type

PCA-2, Serial

Number

ro's delivery

at

Toledo, Ohio, Capt.

Yancey

took

off from Ford Airport

with the

1931

National

Air Tour.

The

Champion

Autogiro

was

the

official tour

ship

.

During

the tour,

Miss hampion

visited

2

states

and

38 cities

and towns

from

London

,

work

getting publicity for Cham

pion

dealers from Maine

to

Florida.

Her demonstrations

of controlled

slow flight,

unusual

maneuverabil

ity,

and

near vertical landings

at the

annual

National Air Races

brought

national recognition

to this new

and

safer form of flight.

In

January

of

1932,

Miss ham-

pion

made a

flight

considered

risky for

any

aircraft,

let

alone

an Autogiro.

Until then no

Auto

giro had ever flown

more than

25

miles over

water.

On

January

24,

Capt. Yancey

flew

the

Autogiro

from Miami to Havana, Cuba, a

distance of more than 300

miles.

His arrival

in Havana

was

greeted

by enthusiastic crowds, and

he

was

invited to the presidential

palace

by

President Machado.

But Yancey

had

even greater am

bitions. A wire to

the

Pitcairn Auto

giro

Company brought

him a week

later a specially designed auxiliary

fuel tank that he mounted in the

front cockpit

of his PCA-2,

thus

doubling his fuel supply. He

then

successfully began his most miracu

lous flight of all from Havana, over

the

Cuban wilderness,

across the

wide and treacherous waters of the

Yucatan

Channel

(part

of the

Gulf

of

Mexico), and

over

the trackless

expanse

of the Yucatan jungles

to

its capital of Merida, a

nonstop

trip

of

nearly

500

miles,

where he

was

welcomed

by the

governor.

I t

was

from

the ancient city of

Merida

that Capt.

Yancey made a

number of flights

to

the capital of

the

Mayan Empire at

Chichen

Itza,

even

landing in

front of

the

famed


21/44

Champion Spark Plug

PCA 2

Pitcairn Autogiro undergoing rotor run-up tests

at the

factory 1931.

An

interested audience poses

with

iss

Champion

at the Temple ofTigers,

Yu-

catan, February 1932.

the method

of flight as a truly safe

form

of

aerial

navigation.

She was

a hard worker,

too,

often towing

advertising

banners

over

the

cities

she

visited, attracting valuable at

tention

to

the

products

her

banner

proclaimed. The

Champion

com-

pany

declared in a letter to Pitcairn

Aircraft,

the

builder of its Autogiro,

that

the value

of

the aircraft in in

creasing sales

and

goodwill toward

its products was beyond estimate.

Miss hampion

was

one of the

first

of

her

type

to

appear in the

United States

and

was retired from

active service, after setting a new

altitude

record

on

September

25 ,

1932,

of

21,500 feet,

the highest

a

rotary-wing aircraft had ever flown.

In her

way,

Miss hampion had

been

a missionary, her clumsy ap

pearance appealing to the

imagi

nation

of

the public and winning

its

confidence through her

ability

to deliver the goods

with

complete

safety. She was retired

with honor

as a

permanent

exhibi t of Chicago s

Rosenwald Museum of Science

and

Industry in the spring of 1935.

After World War

II,

the

museum

had

to give up Miss Champion in

fa

vor of more timely exhibits

from

the

recent

world conflict,

and

this

vintage lady was released into the

knowledgeable

care

of A K

Miller

of Montclair, New Jersey,

who

kept

her in

his

own museum

for

many

years

until

he was forced to close it

down

and

move to other

quarters.

Miller

couldn t

bear the thought of

giving

up this magnificent

relic of

the

pioneering era in American avi


22/44

father in 1928. Next

was a PA-7

Sport Mailwing, which won

for

Steve the Silver

Age

Champion

Award at

the

1983

EAA convention

at Oshkosh, Wisconsin.

Somewhere along

the

line Steve

heard

about the

autogiro owned by

A.K. Miller. After several

attempts

to communicate by mail, Steve

went

to Vermont

to visit

Miller,

who was

then in his

70s,

and

fi

nally succeeded

in negotiating

for

the

PCA-2 Autogiro,

NCl1609,

some

five years later. Steve

had

it

trucked

to

his

hangar at

the Tren

ton-Robbinsville Airport, New Jer

sey, where

the restoration

process

began

in

October 1982.

engineer.

He is a member of

the

Society of Experimental Test Pilots,

making

first flights

in

several ex

perimental rotorcraft

in the

1940s,

including the

'world's largest'

Pi-

asecki XHRP-1,

tandem

rotor)

he

licopter. He

built, from scratch,

a

small racing plane

and

a light,

tan

dem

rotor helicopter.

Before

joining Stephen

Pitcairn

he had

been chief

inspector and

director

of engineering for a re

gional air carrier.

Under

his super

vision,

Miss hampion

was stripped

of

her

original cover (the logos

and

numerals

were

saved

to

be cop

ied) , and the painstaking process

of

inspection

began. Careful

nota

steel tubes

that

served as

the

back

bone

of these rotating wings.

Then

each

rib with its spar-attachment

collar

had

to be inspected

and

very

often

replaced because of

damage

,

cracks, or

other

defects.

I t was

during

this tedious but

crucial

part

of

the

job

that

George

noticed

that the airfoil

·curve of

the

ribs

actually

used

in the rotor

blades was

slightly different

from

the curve called for by the Pitcairn

engineering specifications. Accord

ing to this

official

document,

the

airfoil used was

the Goettingen

429. But

when

George placed one

of the ribs he

had removed

over

the

official

drawing,

he saw im


23/44

ter briefly outlining

the problem,

asked

him

if

he

knew of

anything

in the old

Autogiro

company

re

cords

that would confirm

or

deny

his suspicions.

Requests of this kind were not

new to Gunther,

who had

presided

over the records for

more

than 15

years.

As

a matter of fact

he had

just

recently set aside several engineer

ing reports that

he thought

might

be helpful to Steve Pitcairn and his

able restoration chief,

and

in

one

of

them

he recalled seeing some state

ments made by Paul Stanley,

one

of

the Autogiro company s key engi

neers, about

the

design of

the

rotor

blades used

in the

PCA 2 Autogiros.

Within a few days, George was

holding

in

his hands

the

docu

ments that confirmed his belief

that

this was a deliberate

design

tors

necessary

to

the

solution

of

the rotor problem.

Each

blade

had to

be

accurately

weighed

and

their weights brought

to within 2

ounces of each

other

, and at the

same

time the

spanwise

center of

gravity of all blades

had to

be kept

within 1/8 inch

of each

other. In

attention

to

these

details could

cause,

at

least,

an uncomfortable

ride from vibrations .

Finally, in

the spring

of

1985,

Miss Ch mpion was rolled

out

of

the hangar to check her engine

and

rotor system.

As

Steve

Pit

cairn climbed into

the

cockpit

to begin

this

initial testing pro

cedure, George

Townson

looked

on

somewhat

apprehensively.

Steve activated the starter for the

nine-cylinder

J-6

Wright

engine.

The

ground-adjustable

Hamilton

blades began their counterclock

wise

spin. Gradually

Steve

eased

open the

throttle,

and the

rotor in

creased the speed of its rotation.

Soon the blades were standing

straight

out

at right

angles

to

the

hub. Both

men

were

looking for

signs of increasing vibration

that

would indicate some problem with

the

rotor. George

noticed that one

of

the blades seemed to be

track

ing a bit lower

than

the others,

so he gave Steve

the

sign

to

cut

power to

the

engine.

As

it slowed to

idling speed and the rotor gradually

slowed

down,

George walked over

and

told Steve

to shut her

down so

he

could check the blade settings.

I t

was while this checking was

going on that

a

small wrench

be

ing used

to

adjust

one

of

the

blades

near

its

root

fell

and punctured

a

hole in the

fabric

on the

wing be

low. Now a small wrench is

not

a heavy object,

and both men

thought it strange that a

puncture

would result from this trivial event.

George went

to his toolbox and

brought back a Maule fabric tester.

Testing

the

area near

the

puncture,

he found it

below allowable toler

ance. He then tested

other

areas

on

the

fabric-covered aircraft. With

only slight variations

the

result was

the

same. The

brand new fabric

covering

was definitely weak and

would have

to

be replaced

What

a

disappointment,

because it

meant,

among

other things,

that the

Au

togiro would

miss

EAA Oshkosh

1985, just

one

month away.

Although

the fabric

tested

low,


24/44

back it

indicated

the

particular ni

trate

dope

formulation had an

ex

cess acid

condition

that resulted

in

the

serious weakening of

the

Grade

A cotton fabric. The process of re

covering

and painting

Miss ham-

pion

with

a new

covering system

was started

in

September 1985.

Off to Oshkosh 8

Steve

would

not be denied fly

ing his rare

Pitcairn

Autogiro

to

Oshkosh

86; however,

the trip

wasn t certain until

the

last

min-

ute.

Having

only

a

total

of four

hours on the plane, he

departed

on Thursday, July 31,

hoping to

ar

rive

at

Oshkosh August

I, opening

country

legs at a conservative max

imum

of 2 hours

5

minutes.

His

next

stop was Beaver

County

Airport,

northwest of Pittsburgh,

and

from there

he

flew to Bluffton,

Ohio

(between Lima

and

Findlay).

Unbeknownst

to

Steve

at the

time,

a

nut had loosened, allowing the

oleo

strut

on

the

left landing gear

to separate. The wheel

and

its vee

axle were dangling

from

the

N

strut,

and although

Steve was talk

ing

on UNICOM with

the

folks at

Bluffton,

they didn t

recognize

the

problem,

as

they had

never seen

an

Autogiro before.

The

touchdown

on the run-

way was on the side

of the

er-

Harold Carey came out

on

his golf

cart, sized up

the

situation,

and

said

he d

call

the

wrecker from

town to

hoist

the

plane

and

move it off

the

runway. This was accomplished,

and

it

was

moved into

a

hangar where

it rested

on

some barrels while

the

landing gear was repaired.

Steve

contacted George

Town

son back home, and he

came

to

Bluffton

to

supervise

the

repair job.

Thanks to

the

assistance of some

local folks and the availability of a

machine shop

and

welding

facili

ties, the repairs were completed. In

the

meantime, Steve's good friends

Wayne

Hays

and his

wife

of

Rob

binsville, New Jersey, left three days

early on their vacation

and brought


25/44

A refueling stop was

made

at

Valparaiso , Indi

ana,

then

on

to

Chicago,

where Steve flew along

the

lakeshore with a breathtak

ing

view

looking up at

the

city

's skyscrapers A

final

fuel stop was made at Hart

ford, Wisconsin, and at 1:30

on

Sunday

afternoon, Au

gust 3,

he

touched down

at

Wittman Airfield-Oshkosh

at last Time en route was

10.5 hours.

Steve thrilled Oshkosh

'86

convention-goers

with

his

demonstration

flights

on Monday during

the

Pa

rade of Flight and again on

Wednesday

in the aircraft

showcase

preceding

the

air show.

The

short-field

takeoff and landing capa

bilities

of

this 55-year-

old

aircraft were

most impres

sive, as were

the

extremely

short radius

turns

while airborne.

It

was interesting

to watch the

startup, taxi, and takeoff procedure

for

the

Autogiro. Taxiing

is

mostly

conventional even without a steer

able tail wheel (it still has its origi

nal skid). Steering on the ground

is strictly by use of brakes, a tech

nique

made

somewhat easier

be

cause of the wide (13 foot 3 inch)

tread of the landing gear.

Prior

to

takeoff

the rotor

blades

are started

into

rotation by the pi

lot pulling a knob in

the

cockpit

that

engages a clutch, gearbox,

and

shaft driven by the Wright J-6-9. A

Listed here are specifications

and performance data.

Wingspan 30 feet

Length 23 feet 1 inch

Height

13

feet

Rotor diameter

45

feet

Rotor blade chord

22

inches

Empty weight

2,233 pounds

Gross

weight 3,000 pounds

Maximum speed 119 mph

Cruising speed

98 mph

Landing speed Omph

Rate of

climb 8 fpm

Service ceiling 15 ,000 feet

Gas

capacity 52 gallons

Oil

capacity

6.5

gallons

Cruising range 290 miles

Price (fly-away factory) 15,000

to a landing. In a

Champion

com

pany

press release

the

vertical de

scent

speed was described as 14

feet per second, slower

than

a para

chute. The

beautifully

restored

Pitcairn Autogiro would most cer

tainly have received an award at

Oshkosh '86,

but

Steve chose to not

register it for judging.

After Steve's uneventful 9.5-hour

flight

home

from Oshkosh in Miss

Champion,

he began to do some

things

that

time did not permit ear

lier. The plane was a little out of rig,

and that needed

to

be corrected.

The pitch of the Hamilton Standard

were badly worn. It was deter

mined that

the

pins were not

getting enough grease and pos

sibly the bushings were made

from the wrong material.

New flying wires were or

dered for the rotor blades, and

the previously damaged land

ing gear was taken apart to

have new pieces made to re

place

those which

had been

temporarily repaired on

the

flight

to Oshkosh

. Not

long

after its

return to

New Jersey,

the

landing

gear was more

neatly repaired.

Epilogue: Miss

Champion

continued to be the jewel in Steve

Pitcairn s collection for more

than two decades, until

he

de

cided

to

donate the historic Au

togiro

to

EAA s

collection. t is

displayed

at

various times in

both the

EAA

AirVenture

Mu

seum and EAA s Pioneer Airport

Pitcairn Hangar. Along with the Pit

cairn PA-18 restored by Leading

Edge

Restorations and the Pitcairn

PA

-39

donated earlier by Steve Pitcairn,

it

was a featured attraction during this

past year s Good

aI

Days at Pioneer

Airport.-H.G.

Frautsch

y

About the PCA -2

Pitcairn Aircraft built 20 or more

Model PCA-2 Autogiros in its plant on

Pitcairn Field, Willow Grove, Penn

sylvania. These three-place utility

air-

craft quickly became promotional

tools for various well-known com

panies, including the

Detroit News


26/44

BY

ROBERT G

LOCK

Materials

rocesses

Part

2

n the last issue we looked in

detail

at

structural

and

nonstructural

metallic components of older

aircraft. Now, let's look at

other

materials

and

pro

cesses

that

will be helpful

in

restoring

and

main

taining

our

vintage aircraft.

Control Cable Aircraft quality control cable

is

available in sizes from 1/16 to 3/8 inch in diameter. For

most vintage airplanes,

the

maxi

mum

diameter used

is

5/32 inch.

Two

types

of material are

used

to manufacture

cable-stainless

steel and

carbon

steel (which

is

coated with pure

tin or

zinc

for

corrosion protection). Either flex

ible or nonflexible type cable may

have been

used on th e

original

airplane.

I

suggest

you

use

the

type of cable originally installed;

however, I have

substituted

cor

rosion-resistant cable for carbon

steel, especially where cables are

subjected to the elements and

corrosion is a problem.

Incidentally, researching the

When

I attended

Northrop Institute of

Technology back

in

1960-1961 to train

for

my A P, we were

required

to

fabricate a

in

FAA AC

43.13-1B,

Section

8.

Cable

strength data will

not

be

presented here. After fabrication,

control cables are tested

to

a

proof

load

which

is a

pull

test to 60

percent of rated cable strength for

three minutes.

Cable

assemblies are

me

chanically fabricated, the most

common being

swage-type

ter

minals

and

the

Nicopress pro

cess.

The Nicopress-type cable

ends may

be used as a

substitu

tion for the Navy five-tuck wo

ven ends used on most vintage

aircraft.

The

Nicopress process

is

most

easily

adapted

for field

drastically. Flexible

cable

is

designated

as 7x7.

I t

is

composed

of

wire rope

of

six strands of seven wires

each, twisted

and

laid

around

a

strand center

or core

consisting of seven wires.

Extra-flexible

cables are designated

as

7x19.

That

is

wire

rope of

six

strands

laid

around

the

central

core

strand

in a clockwise direction. Each

strand

consists

of 19 wires

each.

Cable strength data can be found


27/44

tools and read blueprints. I still

have

those

tools

to

this day,

although they

are a little rusted.

Inspection of control cables

should

be made

at the

100-hour and annual inspections. Most cable wear takes

place where

the

cables pass over a pulley or

through

a

fair-lead.

To

locate broken wire(s)

in

a strand,

run

a rag

along

the

cable. In

many

cases the cable should be loos

ened so a close inspection can be made of

the

area that

touches a pulley

through

full travel. Bending

the

cable

so

that the

portion

that

rubs on a pulley

is

on

the

out

side of

the

bend will help reveal damage.

Corrosion

is

another common type

of

damage.

I t

will show up on carbon steel cables

as

rust. Replace

any

cable

that

shows signs of damage. Again, A C43.13-1B

is

a good guide for cable inspection. Figure 1 shows the

method

of detecting broken cable strands, particularly

where cable lays contact a pulley.

Figure

Inspect pulleys for wear

and

ensure that pulleys ro

tate

when

cable

is

moved.

Always lube pulleys with a good lubricating oil.

Re-

place

any

pulleys that show signs of wear or seizing of

I have found that 10-20

pounds

of

tension is

good for

these type systems.

When

installing turnbuckles it

is

necessary to screw

both threaded terminals into the turnbuckle barrel an

equal amount. I t

is essential

that

cable te

rminals

be

screwed

into the

barrel so

that not

more

than

three

threads

on

the terminal are exposed.

Be

sure

to

secure

both cable terminal ends when screwing a turnbuckle;

don't allow cable

to

twist during this operation.

There

are

two

methods

of

safety wiring

turnbuck

les-single

and

double wrap. The correct

method

for wrapping turnbuckles

is

shown in AC 43.13-1B,

Figure 7-24. Pay close

attention that the

correct size

safety wire be

used when safetying

cable

terminals.

This

is

a

most

common area where mistakes are made.

AC

43.13-1B gives appropriate wire

type

and

diam

eter for

this

process.

Either copper,

brass,

stainless

steel, monel, or K monel may be used. NOTE: One

sixteenth-inch and 3/32-inch

cables

may

be single

wrapped only with copper,

brass,

or stainless

steel

safety wire at least 0.040 inch in diameter. For cables

of

lI8-inch

diameter, single-wrap

safeties are

made

with 0.040-inch stainless steel safety wire .

If

a single

wrap safety

using copper/brass wire

is

desired,

the

diameter

must be 0.057

inch.

I've never used or seen

0.057

-inch

brass wire However,

lI8-inch

cables

may

be

double wrapped and

safetied

with

copper/brass or

stainless steel wire.

UNDER

NO CIRCUMSTANCES

SHOULD 0.032 INCH DIAMETER WIRE BE

USED

TO

SAFETY

ANY

TURNBUCKLE I t

might

be wise to

do

a

turnbuckle

safety wire check

of your

airplane. Figure 2 shows

both single-

and double

wrap safety of turnbuckle.

Only

cable terminal

ends

and fittings that

meet

AN standards should

be used in aircraft applications.

AC 43.13-1B gives

directions

on

how to properly

safety a

turnbuckle.

And lastly, cables

tend to stretch

after fabrication,

and

it

may

be necessary

to

retension the cables after a

few

hours

of flight. When retensioning cables, always

make

the

same

adjustment to

cables

that

pull against

each

other. In other words, if the aileron system has


28/44

(D) SINGLE WRAP

(B) DOUBLE WRAP

Figure 2

Tube Bending:

Alloy

3003-0 tub

e

can

be hand

bent, even small radius bends. This

tubing should

be

used for

instrument

installations where

the

pressure

is

low

and tubing

is protected . Alloy

5052-0 tubing

can

be

hand

-bent,

but the bend

radius must be large to

prevent

flattening or kinking of the

tube in

the

bend

radius. Use

of

hand-bending tools is

recommended.

Alloy 6061-T6 can

only

be bent

with

a

hand-bending

tool using a substantial

bend

radius. Always check tube

flattening

in the bend

radius; for fuel lines the maxi

mum flattening

is

5 percent of tube diameter.

Tube Flaring:

Aircraft

tubing

is flared

to an

angle

of 37 degrees. Do not use automotive flaring

equip

ment,

as

the

flare angle

is 45

degrees. The older aircraft

used

AC

fittings . While

the

flare angle

is the

same,

AC

fittings are

not

interchangeable with

AN

fittings. Most

modern

restorations

will convert fittings to

AN

due

to

ease of procurement. Tubing

should

be flared so

as

much

of

the

flared area of

the

tube

as

possible seats on

the

AN

fitting. Always check flared area for cracks, par

ticularly alloy 6061-T6 tubes.

Alignment of tube to fitting

is

also critical. Misalign

ment will eventually cause leaks at the fitting.

Tube Installations: For

instrument

installa

building the

Spirit of

St.

Louis;

he required the interruption

of

the fuel lines with sections off lexible nlbber hose t soak

up vibration and prevent breaks due t work-hardening

of

the tubing

material.-H.G.

Frautschy)

Tube

Fittings:

The

most

common

tube

fittings

are

the

AN818

nut and

AN819 sleeve. Most

aviation

supply

company catalogs give a list

with description

of

all

AN fittings

needed to complete

the project.

I

keep a

copy of the Standard Aircraft Handbook in

my

toolbox

for quick reference of the

AN

code. Since

I m

writing this

in

Florida, a nearby source for this handy

book is

www.Great-Atlanticl.com.

Look for part

number

TS157642-8. Most suppliers carry this book; you'l l find

it very useful.

Low Pressure Oil System: Dry

sump

oil systems

use tubing of 1

inch in

diameter. The tube

can

be 5052

0,

and

special tools are required

to

bend it

to

the de

sired shape. After bending,

the

tube

is

beaded on both

ends using a beading tool. Be sure

to

remove all burrs

after beading,

and

clean

the

tube before installation.

Tube Installation: After fabrication of necessary

tubing, be sure

to

clean

thoroughly and

blow-dry with

compressed air. Assemble with proper hose

and

clamp

using stainless steel hose clamps. The tube ends should

http:///reader/full/www.Great-Atlanticl.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Great-Atlanticl.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Great-Atlanticl.comhttp:///reader/full/www.Great-Atlanticl.com


29/44

Performing

at

he Flying Circus

Aerodrome

in Bealton

VA

II have been flying

now

for over 25 years. I am a Certified

Flight Instructor and let me tell you - not only is the personal,

hometown family feeling

of

dealing with AUA wonderful, year

after year they find a way to insure my precious airplanes at a

value

bar

none lower than any other company./I

-

harles Tippet

Charles

Tippett

Warrenton, VA

• Pilot for over 5 years

• Certified flight instructor

• Chuck Tippett Wing Walker at

The Flying Circus Aerodrome


30/44

Light Plane Heritage

PUBLISHED IN E

Experimenter

M RCH 989

THE

MUMMERT COOTIE

I

mmediately after World War I,

Harvey Mummert was

one

of

the

earliest designers

and

builders

of homebuilt air

planes. His several original

design

lightplanes

were

built

in

his spare time with the help of

he

Y

JACK

Mc

E

EAA 93

of work, and was a very attrac

tive

miniature biplane

called the

Baby Vamp

which soon came to

be known as

the Cootie

The

first

flight of

the Cootie

was

made on

July

8,

1921,

by

the well-known

pilot

Bert

Acosta. Some diffi

encountered

was seen to be flying

very steadily

and at a speed estimated

to

be

nearly 100

mph.

Acosta,

who

was

noted

for his

fondness

for

aero

batics, proceeded to put

the little

biplane through an Immelmann

and

many other

maneuvers ,


31/44

I

J

,

I- i-

:

I \

, \I

_\__-

,

I

I ,

\ :

\ 1

k,

Harvey Mummert and the Mummert

Cootie

l

/

1

HOWEVER, CLOSE

EXAMINATION OF

THE

COOTIE

PHOTOGRAPHS

INDICATE THAT

T IS

WAS NOT THE CASE,

AND THAT THE

ENGINE WAS THE

RELATIVELY RARE

LAWRANCE N MODEL,

OF WHICH ONLY A

FEW WERE BUILT

OR

THE

U.S.

NAVY.

used in the Penguin ground train

ers . However,

close

examination

of

the

Cootie photographs

indicate

that this was not the case, and that

1921

MUMMERT

inches and it

developed

40 hp

at


32/44

The

ummert

ootie with a Burnelli RB l airliner in background.

The ootie gets a thorough inspection

at

a Curtiss Field air show.

The Main Characteristics

of the ootie

1900 rpm,

although

it

was

stated

that the

engine

speed was

limited

to

1500

rpm during the

flight test .

The N

engine

had one bad

feature

of

the Type

A

however

in

that it

still had

the

single-throw crank

shaft,

which

caused

severe vibra-

tion

and,

in

one

case

reportedly

shook

a

carburetor

off

in

flight.

It

is

assumed that

Mummert s

po

si-

tion in the

Curtiss

engineering

de-

partment gave him access to this

unusual

engine.

At that

time

Curtiss had just

started

building its famous series

of

racers

using wooden mono

coque fuselage construction

with

plywood-covered

wings.

The

-

ti

used these same

features,

the

fuselage

being

built

of

three lay-

ers

of veneer

strips

at

45

degrees

to

each other, wrapped around

a

wooden form

and

glued, after

which the form was

removed

and

bulkheads installed where

neces-

sary. The tail surfaces were also all

wood

including

the covering.

The wings, which used

th e

R.

A.F

. 15

airfoil

were each

built

as a single unit

with no dihedral.

Each wing used nine spars

between

the leading and

trailing

edges. The

spars were

of rectangular section

l 4

-inch

wide and varied

in

depth

according

to

their

chord

wise lo-

cation.

The maximum thickness

of

the

wing

was

only

2

inches.

The

upper

rear

main spar

and the

lower

front

main spar were

of

the

box

type since

they made up part

of the wing truss and had to re-

sist axial loads

due

to the flying

fitting. The landing wires were a


33/44

single wire on each side of

the

air

plane running from the lower end

of t

he front interp

l

ane strut to

the

top

of

the

rear cabane strut.

Apparently afte r flight

testing

two

addi

tional

wires

were added

on each side

exte

nd ing from

the

rear

upper

and

l

ower

i

nterplane

s

tru

t fi t t ings to the fi rewall

bu

lk-

head just aft

of th

e en

gine. The

r

eason

for these additi

ona

l wires

is not known

bu

t they may

have

been added in an

a

tt

em

pt

to

ab

sorb some of

the engin

e vibration

or

possi

bl y to re d uce th e effect

of de

fl

ection

of

t

he cantil

ever ca

bane s

trut

s

und

er

un

sym

me

t rica l

wing loads.

Ail

erons

we re

ins

talled

on the

lower win gs

only

and ex tended

for t

he

f

ull wing

sp

an.

Th e aile

rons were

con

t rolled by a

horn

at

the

airpl

ane cente

r

li

ne inside t he

fuse lage with

no

exte

rna

l fitt ings.

Th e fin

of

u pp er

and

l

ower

sec t ion

s was bu i

lt

integ

ral

wi th

th e fu se la

ge an

d th e t a

il

skid

was a

tt a

ch

ed

to its lower

section.

Elevator

and rudder

cab

les

we

re

kep t i n si

de the

fu

se

l

age

w

i th

th eir co nt

ro

l

hor

n s enc losed in

th

e

th

icken

ed

fuselage secti

on

at

th e tail post.

Th e lan

ding

gear

was

of t

he

spr eade r b

ar

type wit h str eam-

line s

tru

ts of ash

and

with shock

cord a

tt

ach

ing

t

he

axle. Side loads

we re taken by

diago

n a l wi res in

th

e plane of

the

rear l

an

d

ing

gear

s

trut

s an d anoth

er pair

of wi res

extended to

the

firewa

ll

bulkhead.

arvey Mummert

Harvey

C Mummert: Pilot Designer and Manufacturer

Harvey

C

Mummert was born in

Alliance

,Ohio,

on

April

4, 1892

. He graduated

from Mount Union

College, Alliance, and the

Case

School

of

Applied

Science

in Cleveland.

In

1916

he

started work for the Curtiss company

in

Buffalo as an engineer,

and his signature

appears

on

some

1916

IN-4

drawings.

He apparently made

good

as an eng ineer, and in

1918

he was transferred

to the

Curtiss

Experimental

Engineering

plant in Gar

den City,

Long

Island.

Here

he had

responsible

posi

tions

in

the

design

and

development

of

the

MF

Fly

ing Boat and the

Eagle

eight-passenger tri-motored

biplane in 1919, the

twin

-engined CJ. NavalTorpedo

monoplane, the PW-8 fighter,

and

a

small

all-metal

seaplane glider

designed

for the use of Glenn Curtiss.

One

of

his co-workers describes

Mummert

as Avery

mild mannered

man

with

an

unusually keen mind

and

a

sense

of

sound practical

design:'

Since his days

in

high

school he had been

interested in

small

airplanes,

and

in

the

1921-24

period

he

designed

and

built,

in his spare

time,

three successfullightplanes. These

were

the 1921

ootie

biplane

with aLawrance engine, the 1923 midwing monoplane

of

wood

monocoque construction

using a

Harley-

Davidson

motorcycle engine,

and in 1924 an

all-wood low-wing cantilever monoplane,

also

Harley-powered, which

competed

in the 1924 and

1925

National

Air Races

.Mummert was amember of

the Curtiss Flying Club atthis time, and in 1924

he

received Federation Aeronautique Internationale FAil

Aviation

Pilot's License No.

6169

.

In 1927 he received Transport

Pilot

License No. 550.

In

1924

Mummert

left

Curtiss

and

became

chief

engineer for

the newly

reorganized Mercury

Aircraft

Inc. of

Hammondsport, New York .During the next

15 years

at the Mercury company,

Mummert

was

responsible for anumber of interesting deSigns, as

follows:

1924 - Mercury

St.

Liberty-powered

biplane,

a

winner of

Mail Plane

competition held

by

the Post

Office Department.

1925

-

Redesigned

Standard J-1 o five -seater, C6A-powered,and as atwo-place

trainer

. Five

sold

to Argentine government.

1925

- Mercury

Jr

. two-place

utility biplane,

C6A

engine

.

Flown by Mummert in 1925 National Air

Races and in the

1925,

1926, and

1927

Ford Airplane Reliability Tours, placing third in

1927

.

1926 - -

11

nonrigid

training blimp

delivered to Army in 1928.

1927

- Mercury Kitten

two

-place cabin monoplane

of all

-steel tube construction.

Originally

powered

by Mummert-

designed

two-

cycle, four

-cylinder

opposed

-

piston

engine, later

with Warner

Scarab.


34/44

BY

DOUG

STEW RT

All

available info

evant parts

of

FAR

91.103 just for

a moment.

lt

states: Each pilot in

command

shall, before beginning

a flight, become familiar

with

all

available

information concerning

that flight. This information must

include:

a)

For a flight ...

not

in the

vicinity of an airport, weather re

ports

and

forecasts, fuel require

ments, alternatives available if the

planned flight

cannot

be com

pleted

(b) For any flight, run

way lengths

at

airports of intended

use

Let's

take

a

look

at where

we

might

go

to obtain

all

that

avail

able

information,

and as well,

how

to

document that we have

indeed

gotten

all

that informa

tion.

Let us also be aware

that the

terms all available information II

and in

the

vicinity of an airport

are

not

defined

in

FAR

Part 1.

Thus

there

is the

potential to

incur

a vi

olation of these regulations predi

cated upon the

interpretation of

a

local FAA inspector. Whether their

interpretation would

s I was

departing the

pat

tern

of

my

home

base

airport a few days ago,

heading out

to the prac

tice area

to

do

some

air work with

a client in my PA-12, I overheard

a

pilot announce that

he

was

10

miles out

to

the southwest and in

bound for landing. Hearing that, I

knew

that

I would have to be es

pecially

diligent

in

my see and

avoid collision avoidance scan, as

I was headed to the

south

myself.

But

the

next thing the

pilot

said

increased

my concern.

He asked:

Uh

...

which runway you

using

at

Columbia County? Since I

had just

announced

not only

the

runway

I was

departing on, but

further, the direction of

my

depar

ture, and since there were s

Documents

Vintage Airplane - Nov 2009