vintage airplane - apr 1999

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1999

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2/36

STRAIGHT&

LEVEU

Espie "

But

ch "Joyce

2 AlC

NEWS

3 WHATOURMEMBERSARERESTORING/

H

C

Frautschy

4 ACLASSICTRIPIN CLASSICAIRPLANES/

Dip Davis

5 NAVIGATINGTHECLOUDSOVER

SANDIEGOBAY

Miss Ida Roschma

nn

8

REMEMBERING

THE

BIRD BOY

/

Bill Truax

11 FROM

THE ARCHIVES

12

PLEASANT

TO

FLY .. .WITHOUTTHESTING!!

WaltKessler

17

1938

J-3C/

H

G.

Frautschy

21 MYSTERYPLANE

H

G. Frautschy

23

PASS IT

TO

BUCK

E E. "Buck"Hilbert

.

..

.

..

:

': ..': :::

...:.:> :-',i:

27

CALENDAR

29

WELCOMENEWMEMBERS

33

VINTAGEMERCHANDISE


3/36

T

AIGHT & LEVEL

by

ESPIE BUTCH JOYCE

PRESIDENT,

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT

ASSOCIATION

April is here, and almost everyone has gotten out their

dust

rags and

polish

to get their

birds

up to speed

and

ready for the flying season.

I don't want to sound like a broken record, but permit

me to once again say, "

Let's

be careful out there!"

We need to be very cautious at all times, but the during

the flight hours right after a long layoff, you should take

extra care.

It

seems that the ground is involved with about

95% of the accident reports I see. You know the old say

ing,

It

isn' t the speed that kills, but it is the sudden stop at

the end." Keep thinking about it - you will live longer.

There

will be a great

many

of you at Sun 'n

Fun

this

year, and so will I It 's remarkable

how

this fly-in has

grown over the past two and a

half

decades to become an

internationally recognized gathering of aviation individuals.

It is a direct result of the dedication and great leadership of

the management team, Officers, Directors, and Volunteers,

past and present, that have made this success possible.

I have heard some

people

talk

about

the location

of

a

fly-in from time to time. In my humble opinion, that is of

a lesser concern, except from a weather standpoint. We

can use our aircraft to go to almost any locality with ease.

Think about

it -

who would have ever thought that

a

town in

mid-eastern Wisconsin would

be

visited

by so

many,

just

to look at an airplane

or

two? Congratulations

to the Sun 'n Fun

EAA

Fly-In on your 25th anniversary .

May you continue to be successful

in

the years to come!

Here are

some of

the things you can look forward to

great

front porch, is hosted by

Chapter

I of the Vintage

Aircraft Association. During the balance of the year this

building is

home

base for the Chapter. During the fly-in

you can relax there, drink some lemonade

or

iced tea and

munch on some popcorn.

It's

also the place to go to regis

ter your

aircraft.

These

folks also

are

a

great source

for

information about almost anything

you

need to know

about the fly-in.

Just writing

about Sun 'n Fun gets me

more excited about going to the fly-in for the week! I hope

to see you there as well.

It was with

great

interest that I read this past month s

article written by Buck. I can relate to his experience with

a computer, but don't count him out because it won't be a

year before he will be putting floats on his one-eyed box!

Hang

in

there, Buck.

After

Sun

' n Fun almost everyone

will be

enjoying

quite a few local fly-ins. Some of the type clubs will also

be holding their fly-ins at different locations in different

areas of

the U. S.

You

can

check

the

dates

for

many of

these activities

by

reviewing

the Calendar

section of

your Vintage Airplane .

Joe Dickey, Vintage Aircraft Association Director and

Type Club Chairman for your area, has written to inform

me that he is stepping down as a Director and also is giv

ing up the Chairmanship of the Type Club Headquarters.

If

Joe

was

there

to help you, you'll

also recall

that his

wife

,

Julia,

was

right there too

.

They make

a

powerful

team and

I never

had

to worry about

any

project

they


4/36

V NEWS

compiled y H G Frautschy

1999 BIPLANE EXPO

The

1999 Biplane Expo, June

Bartlesville, OK has announced that

Brigadier General Paul

W

Tibbets, Jr. ,

famed pilot

of

the legendary

B-29

Enola Gay has accepted the invitation

of the National Biplane Association to

be their honored guest. General Tib

bets, one the nation s great

heroes

of

WW-Il will

join

a select list offamous

aviators who have been honored by the

NBA for their contributions to aviation

and to the USA.

General Tibbets

organized

,

com

manded and piloted the most significant

single mission in the history

of

military

aviation .

The mission

on August 6,

1945 to Hiroshima, Japan to drop the

first atomic bomb effectively ended

WW-Il, saving an estimated one million

lives

of

allied forces who were gearing

up for the planned invasion of

Japan

.

The Biplane Expo

is

the largest gather

ing of biplane in the world, annually

attracting 400-500 aircraft , of which

130-\50 are of the classic biplane con

figuration.

For

information, call

the Biplane

Expo Information

office

at 9 8

622-8400.

THE COVERS

FRONT

CO

VER .. . Cubin , 1938 style

A

FE

W QUESTIONS

. .

Our

eastern sage, Bob Whittier,

P .O. Box T, Duxbury , MA 02331

has a few

items

h

e d

like to

know

more about, and I m

certain there

are a few of you who can help.

First, Can

anyone accurate

ly

ex p lain why the

St

inson 108 se

ries

have very

different vertica

l

tail surfaces?

Where can he find

usefu

l

read

ing on the characteristics of

these

THE GASTRONOMICAL

two different forms

of

tai l surfaces:

m STORY OF

V

TION

by

Nicholas

Frirsz, EAA

Chapter

1070

Newsletter "Leatherstocking Flyers" Editor

The history of aviation is closely tied to

that of the pancake breakfast. We are all fa

miliar

with the

events

leading up to that

December afternoon when the Wright Broth

ers took to the air for the first time. However,

few realize that their attempts were based on

their intense drive to reach the pancake hou se

on the other side of Kill Devil Hills.

So

, with maple

syr

up in

hand

, young

Orville bravely set out to where

no

man had

gone before - the first fly-in breakfast!

Why were

the

magnetos

News of this great development spread fast

mounted on the front of the Wright

across the continents. A few years later a fel

J-5 engine? low

named Louis Bleriot, tired

of

crepes

What is usua ll y done

to

make

suzette and with a longing to make a name for

the upright members of wooden

himself

in

the annals

of

breakfast food , took

ribs fit the spars properly in swept

to the air, crossed the English Channel

in his

back wings?

frail craft , and in what has become a mile

stone in aviation history, discovered the

bottomless cup of coffee.

I

\

In 1927, Lindbergh added his name to the

list

of

greats .

Hi

s transatlantic crossing cre

ated

an

instant media sensation by becoming

f

11[S2111

t

the most expensive breakfast hop in history.

Lindbergh also set up the three golden rules

of the fly-in breakfast:

I) the best pancakes are always the fur

thest away;


5/36

WHAT OUR

MEMBERS ARE

RESTORING

by

H G

Frautschy

ALASKANTAYLORCRAFT

Nestled

in

the tall grass of an Alaskan waterway, Robert

E.

Taylor

of

Kenai, AK uses his 1946 Taylorcraft BC12D to

visit pristine spots

li

ke this all over the

USA's

49th state.

Based

in

Texas after being produced

in

the Alliance, OH fac

tory, it later was moved to the Fairbanks, AK area. Robert

purchased the basket case project in 1987, and spent the

next two years rebuilding it into a all season flyer. t has a

Lycoming 125 hp

0290D

engine with a custom Piper-like

cowl, new seats, extended baggage compartment, and a sky

light. Of course, shoulder harnesses were installed, as well as

removable seat flotation cushions and lower door windows.

Fitted for Federal 2000 skis, and 8.5x6

in.

tires and tubes, it is

shown here on its Edo 1400 floats with dual water rudders,

splash rails and compartment pump outs. A nice medium

blue and yellow color scheme tops off the

job

. The Taylor

craft has become an old friend

over

the

decade

Bob

has

owned it and

he

welcomes notes concerning flying

in

Alaska

or

questions about his restoration . You can reach him at:

Robert

E.

Taylor, 2745 Set Net Ct., Kenai, AK 99611 or rtay

[email protected]

RON

PARKER'S

STINSON

108

Restored

by

Dennis

McCormack of

Yelm,

W A, Ron

Parker

is tickled to own and fly this 1947 Stinson 108-2,

powered by a Franklin 6A4165. Covered with Ceconite in

the mid-1980s, Ron bases the airplane at Harvey Field in

Snohomish, WA. He's looking forward to flying it exten

sively this summer, and spending a little time detailing the

little items that still need to be done.
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]


6/36

A

lassic

Trip in

lassic

Airplanes

By W D. Dip Davis

Pen and Ink Artwork

by Jim

Newman

Oc

tober 998

This story probably should begin with

the

International

Cessna 1201140 Associa-

tion convention o 1996 in Faribault,

Minnesota. Larry Marc and

I had

planned

to fly

our respective little Cessnas to the

event. Marc had recently completed the re-

pairs

and

restoration

on his 140 and it was

in pristine condition to compete for best

original 140. Larry had acquired what

may be

the

lowest time 140 in existence

with less than 500

logged hours,

and had

polished

it

carefully to the point that my

slightly ratty 120 would have to trail a

ways behind

so as

not to be associated

with them.

The night before we had

planned to de-

part

Larry phoned with the news

that

the

weather prognostication was not conducive

to a VFR round - trip

so

he proposed that

we all pile in his Suburban and drive up.

As is so

often the case, the weatherman

group always affords.

All

of which brings

us to

plans

for the

1998

convention to

be

held

in Chino , Cali-

fornia. California is a considemble distance

in a little 100

mph

airplane and a great deal

o

planning took place

among

the diehard

Midwesterners

who gave thought to mak-

ing the trip.

I

was pleased

to

see

the

turnout

at

a July session

held at

Cottonwood

Air-

port in

Rockford.

Several of

the members

had made the trip (in larger, faster air

craft)

and

had interesting observations

as

to

routes and favorite stopovers. Marc

had done such a great job on the

120

that

someone

came

along before he

was

quite

done and made him an offer he couldn't

refuse. Larry convinced him that it was

too

l

ake

to back out of the journey

though

so

Marc made tentative plans

to

borrow

another 140.

Exactly

three weeks before our

planned

departure Larry taxied

out

o his hangar

at

Campbell Airport in Grayslake

to

attend

They also asked

if we

would be

willing to

take

Larry's

ashes with us

and

scatter them

over the Pacific Ocean .

What can you

say?

Saturday, September 19 - Marc

had

made

the arrangements

with his Dad

to

at-

tend

a

concert in Peoria

,

so he flew Larry

's

140

loaded with enough gear

to

last

a

cou-

ple of

weeks

down

there

,

and

I

met him

at

Mt. Hawley on

Sunday morning.

I visited

with his parents for a

few minutes and

we

departed

for

Pittsfield, Illinois sometime

before noon . Pittsfield has a

new

, high

tech , credit card operated self fueling sys

tem with reasonable prices. Good thing,

too as

the

field

was

otherwise unattended

on

a Sunday .

We

checked weather

on the

phone and found that we must hustle

a

little

to beat a rapidly approaching front.

t

looked kind of dark for just a short while

but got better

as

we motored southwest.

Two

and half hours later we landed at Pt.

Lookout,

near

Branson Missouri , a

brand


7/36

didn't set an alann clock

any

morning . We

left there

about

nine

a.m., headed

for

Olny,

Texas where

we

arrived at

noon.

Olny

is

the home o Leland Snow's Air Tractor

and

turbine powered

Ag

machines in vari

ous

stages of

completion

were all

over the

field

. We

were also

treated

to

a

guided

tour

of

the

CarterCopter

by

Carter's extremely

enthusiastic

PR man

,

Rod Anderson.

If

this

machine

should happen

to

fulfill

its hype,

it will revolutionize aviation.

The Olny airport is considerable dis

tance

from

town

and there were no vending

machines for other than soft drinks, so

Ma Fc dug -down

in

his o tricks and

produced a loaf o bread', a jar o peanut

butter

and

a jar of jelly. It made a surpris

ingly satisfying lunch

and

we were able to

depart

within a reasonable

time frame

. We

plugged along for another 2.8 hours to

Midland , Texas, across a not very

exciting

landscape but

without

too much

of a

head

wind

for

that part of the world.

Larry ' s original, carefully

planned

itin

erary, called

for El

Paso

as

the next stop,

but weariness

and

no

great urgency

to go

further dictated an

overnight

stop

at Pecos

where we arrived about 6:30

.

Dennis Blan

chard

,

the FBO

at

Pecos, made us glad we

had elected to do so. He treated us to a cold

drink and pointed us to his courtesy car

without being asked. A decent motel was

just a few blocks away, served an enjoy

able dinner and gave us coupons for a

complimentary full breakfast.

The weather west looked just a trifle

iffy as we got ready

to

leave

in the

morn

ing

.

We

elected

to have

a look

and

headed

between

two

thunderstonns

on

either

side

of the pass.

It

was

raining a little

in

the pass

but we could see the hills on

the

other

s

ide

and made

it through

with only light turbu

lence

in just a

few minute

s. We

called back

to

Dennis

on

the Unicorn

to

infonn him of

our progress and

he

expressed

his

thanks

for

our doing so .

GPS groundspeed numbers in the low

80 s were about the best we saw as we

slowly climbed towards Deming, New

Mexico. Got there shortly after noon (Cen

tral

time

-

we

had crossed the first time

zone at the state line). Deming

is an

old

military

field with long

runways

but

a

new,

modern terminal with a sharp FBO and

friendly folks. There were

no

food dis

pensers but

the

line

crew

called

the

Grand

Hotel

in

town and they sent

a

van to pick us

up

within minutes.

We

had a delightful

lunch

and again

a

van

ride

back to

the air

port

with

a

big smile and no charge

.

On

departure from Deming

we

discov

ered why the runways were

so

long

Hot

day, high density altitude and

85

little

horses under the cowl. We circled the air

port once before

heading

towards Tucson .

Tucson

lies

between

two

mountains , Inter

state

10 runs

right through the middle

o

the city, and a major airport lies on either

side. Busy Davis-Monthan AFB on the

north and busier Tucson International on

the south

.

Marc had found

that

his

altitude encoder

didn' t jibe with his altimeter, so

he

had

turned off

his

transponder while I left

mine

on.

He

was

in

contact with

A

TC

, calling

us

a

flight

of

two 140s

as I kept

my big mouth

shut. I

mi

sinterpreted one transmission

which had implied hold short. Marc

made a circling turn just

as

I put

my

head

down to check

a

frequency. When

I

looked

up, Marc

was

gone

I didn't

feel

that I should wander around

that sky looking for a little airplane,

espe

cially when I heard center talking to two

F

-16s

coming out of Davis Monthan. I

con

tinued through the hornet's nest, s

aw

the

fighters cross

well

in front of me just a little


8/36

now, all the way back

to

the edge

o

the

city. We got a comfortable room and ade

quate dinner. Really dawdled in the

morning and

got

back

in

the

air

at 10:30 our

time.

We

pretty much followed Interstate

10

up

towards Phoenix, cutting corners

in

places

where

the mountains didn't

look too

formidable, but stayed south of the

control

zone til we were well west of

it. Next

stop,

across the Colorado River

to

Blythe, Cali

fornia,

an

airport I

was

quite familiar

with

though it had been several years.

We

caught up with another

140

there,

Ken Liggett from Colorado, with

whom

we

had

a nice visit while

the

only unpleasant

line person

we

encountered

on

the whole

trip fueled our airplanes. We ate machine

dispensed sandwiches (not bad ) in the

air

conditioned flight office before departing

on

our

last

leg of the outbound trip.

Banning pass

was

as

its

usual sootiness

,

though VFR

.

Marc

contacted

Palm

Springs

approach

and

they were very helpful

in

get

ting us pointed in the right direction,

picking up SoCal approach just beyond

Banning and they vectored

us

towards

Chino.

We

got a landing clearance

as

a

flight o two and

as we

got within a half

by

all our

old and new

friends, we were shut

tled off

to the

Ontario

Hilton, headquarters

for the convention.

The

two

hour time lag

was most welcome

in

the morning

Convention activi

ties officially started

Thursday

morning and

after a somewhat

pricey breakfast we

hopped a shuttle van

back to the airport

where we were

briefed for

the

fly-out

to Gillespie Field in San Diego . 1 climbed

in

95V with Marc since

he

had been able

to

unload

all the

baggage, and

we

joined a

five

aircraft formation -

to use

the term

very loosely.

The flight leader, Lloyd Sorensen, was

familiar

with

the area

and

did a good job of

threading

through

the

hills,

but the follow

ing gaggle spread out

so

far that

A

TC

called

with

a warning that one

o

the group was

about

to

encroach on Miramar's Class B

airspace "and that would not be a good

thing " That 140 got

so

far

afield that the

pilot lost

contact

with the rest

of

us and

ob

tained an individual clearance into

Gillespie. The rest o

us

were cleared en

masse and landed without incident after a

really strange approach around the hills.

We

were

greeted

cordially

by the ground

controller and directed to the museum

hangar

which houses the

overflow

from the

downtown S.D. Aerospace collection. John

Klien

a museum volunteer and aviation en

thusiast from way back, gave us a very

entertaining lowdown on all the aircraft on

display.

We then

walked a

few

rows down

to

the Confederate Air

Force

hangar where

those friendly folks prepared a barbecue

pacity vans

and

we never

had

to wait

more

than

a

few

minutes

for

a

ride

back

and forth

the entire time . Breakfast was scheduled

for

Flo's Airport

Cafe,

a

local

institution, great

fun

and good food

at

reasonable prices

the

adjoining pilot's supply shop is labeled

"Over Flo's." We

then

shuttled our

full bel

lies

to the tower area where we

were

briefed

on today's fly-out to

Catalina Island

and is

sued life vests, being assured that the

US

Coast

Guard

was alerted

and that we would

be in

the water for only a few minutes in

case o a ditching. Again I accompanied

Marc

in

95V -

no

sense getting both air

planes wet, and , besides,

he

would need a

little

assistance

with the task

before

us.

We

embarked as a

formation

of six,

Ken

Morris and Don Alisi

in

Don's 120 in the

lead. Again the

formation

deteriorated into

a gaggle and one member turned back

in

horror.

He

showed up at the

island

later, ei

ther alone or

with

a following group. The

trip

was

a delight, smooth air and somehow

less daunting than a flight across Lake

Michigan. The approach to the "Airport in

the

sky"

as

it is

billed

, is a

little hairy at first

glance. The

runway was

scraped

off

the top

of a mountain

and looks

like a carrier

deck.

It's

also

quite

wide which

gives

the

illusion

of being shorter than it really is . The land

ing was

anti-climatic.

We

explored the terminal area, which

has a restaurant

and

gift shop

and

gardens

with nicely done

local

history displays . An

hourly bus down

to

the town of Avalon is

available and most of us elected to

do

the

tourist routine. The road

to

Avalon is just

ten

miles

but

requires nearly

30

minutes

to

cover. It's a rough, narrow winding road

with a number of

switch-backs

so

tight that

mirrors have been installed to view

any on

coming

traffic - there is not room

for

two

vehicles

to

pass

in the

turns. I sat near

the

back

of the

bus and

the

rocking motion plus

gnawing acrophobia from the view

to

the


9/36

settling. Marc had had an hour to prepare

for the return flight and was all ready

when I

got

back to the airport.

We

left by

ourselves

and

swung around the cliffs to

get a view o Avalon from the air, then

headed back over the channel where I

held the airplane steady in slow flight

while Marc neatly spread Larry's ashes

over the

blue

Pacific.

We headed

back

to Chino with

guidance

from

SoCal approach and fell

in

behind

Jack Hooker in his 120 for the landing.

Our

hosts had arranged an elaborate cookout

at

one

of

the hangars and the

annual business

meeting was conducted with the enticing

smell of beef

roasting

over hot coals assail

ing our noses. New officers duly elected,

we

settled down to the really serious busi

ness

of eating. A

champagne

cork shooting

contest

was

also

in

order with

two winners

managing to hit the hangar wall

110

feet

across the ramp.

A

full

size

bus

got

us

back

to the

hotel

without delay and festivities continued at

the hospitality room

a

lot longer

than I

was

inclined

to be

up.

Saturday

morning. The

shuttle

van ser

vice, which was

beginning

to spoil us, ran

us

back

to the Chino airport

where

we had

planned

again to breakfast at Flo's.

We

in

advertently (honest ) walked into the

hangar where the club officers and new

members were having a breakfast buffet.

The bacon smelled

so

good I couldn't get

past it

so we

sat and ate with the newcom

ers just

as

though we

had

been invited. A

short walk

down the ramp

brought us to

the

Planes o Fame museum complex where

our

convention

member

status earned

us

a

discounted admission price.

They have

an

impressive collection o

warbirds,

including

the

only

flyable

origi

nal

engine powered Japanese Zero

in the

world. We got to see

it fly, along

with an

early

model P-40 and

several

more mun

on one of those floats?) Also in the same

collection is Benny Howard's DGA-5,

"Ike," and a long nosed Rider Special with

Tony

LeVier's name on it that I remember

best

as

the Schoenfeldt Firecracker. There

were three or four

others who are almost as

historic, but

we

didn't have

all day.

Out

side, I was surprised

to

see, with wings

removed,

the

B-50 which

was

the

first air

craft

to

fly around the world nonstop. I

had all but forgotten the excitement

o

that time

.

We flagged down Carlos, the cheerful

line attendant who had kept our tanks

topped off each day (100

LL

at 1.45 per

gallon ) and he

ran

us the considerable dis

tance back to the tower area where we

sucked up some lemonade and allowed our

feet to cool.

We

had intended to ride the

shuttle van back to Ontario for the final

night's banquet but were surprised by the

appearance o a friend o a mutual friend

from home . Our buddy Greg had phoned

his buddy Sam

and told

him

to look us

up.

He

drove his big Lincoln right out

to

the

tiedowns and introduced himself. After ad

miring our airplanes

and

swapping a

few

stories,

he

took

us

back

to

Ontario

in

high

style and

made

arrangements to take us to

breakfast Sunday morning .

The banquet was presented

in

a huge

dining room

at the

Hilton, decorated with

balloons and flowers. I felt slightly under

dressed for the affair but this was Southern

California and everyone was casual, with

maybe a dozen neckties

in

evidence

in

the

whole place. After the umpteen course

meal

and

a

few

brief speeches, the awards

were

presented.

Marc

was called up to ac

cept

the

plaque

for the

"Best Original

140"

for 1695V

.

As he

told Larry's

story

I noted

several people having a little trouble with

their eyeglasses. There

were so

many do

nated door

prizes

to be

awarded

that folks

began to

get a little restless

and when

the

beauties of central and northern Arizona

over the flat desert that

we

had crossed

on

the way out, and said we shouldn't miss

seeing Sedona.

We all

agreed

on

that route

and

after clearing Banning pass

we

angled

northeastward to Parker Dam and the air

port on the Arizona side o the Colorado

River. There

was

a strip mall within easy

walking distance

o

the runway which

housed not only a McDonalds and Taco

Bell, but a gambling casino.

We

resisted

the slot machines in favor

o

tacos and

burritos. t was quite comfortable when

walking

in

the shade

o

the mall's over

hanging canopy, but when you stepped

out into the direct sun you immediately

knew the temperature was crowding the

century mark.

The

airport

is

less

than 1,000

feet ASL

and the

runway

is plenty long so we had

no

trouble getting back into

the

air after refuel

ing.

Next stop -

Sedona and its

renowned

red rocks. The

scenery

is,

indeed, spectacu

lar and I silently thanked our friends for

convincing

us to

come this way.

The

run

way has been

scraped off

the top

ofa

mesa,

similar

to

that

on Catalina, but

even

longer.

Of

course the

wind seldom blows

in the di

rection

the

runway is aimed and

we

had to

demonstrate our proficiency somewhat.

We

had

the

airplanes serviced

and

tied

down, then walked to

the

Sky Ranch Lodge

at the

edge of

the

airport. After checking in,

Marc grabbed his camera and departed

for

scenic photo ops . I adjourned to the patio

with a

libation,

put

my

feet

up

and watched

the

sun go down

. After an appropriate ad

justment time, I walked

the

couple of

blocks

back

to

the airport cafe which

is

good

enough

to

draw even a non-flying crowd

from town and had dinner with Don and

Maureen, Carol and Mat Rybarczyk

and

Doug

Corrigan.

The latter group had landed

at

Flagstaff and brought a

rental

car

to Se

dona rather than miss the sights.


10/36


11/36

stands, his white shirt front standing

out from the dark-suited men, a soft

cap on his head, unlike the fairly for

mal headwear of most of the men on

the platform with him.

On the crate are stenciled words.

"Curtiss Aeroplane," the word

'Cur-

tiss'

spelled out in the recognizable

logo script of the day. Below that are

the words, "Dixon's Humming Bird"

and "world 's youngest aviator."

The first time r

saw

this photo-

graph was almost 20 years ago where

it hung

in

the law offices

of

Ella Van

Berkom in my home town

of

Minot,

North Dakota. For two years I found

myself

returning to the scene in my

mind, and

I

decided

to

explore

a

means to acquire the photograph. Af

ter having done so, I submitted it to

the editor of my local Montana An- The young, dapper Cromwell Dixon, in a por-

tique Aircraft Association newsletter

trait

taken In 1911 by "Pach, New York, NY"

for publication in my mystery plane

column. Two replies came back iden

training from the Curtiss school, and ob

tifying the young man in the white shirt

tained the Federation Aeronautique

and

soft checkered cap

as

Cromwell

Internationale sporting license number

Dixon, a 19-year-old youth from the

43 which was issued to him August 31,

Midwest who was the flrst person to fly

1911,just a month before his record-set

across the Continental Divide.

ting flight from Helena, Montana.

I've never been certain why the pho

The photograph which has so piqued

tograph

of

Cromwell

Dixon's

passage my

curiosity

over

these years was

un

through Minot

has

meant

so much to

doubtedly made on Dixon's trek from the

me. Our aviation careers were certainly

Midwest to Williston, North Dakota,

vastly different, but something about the

where

he

made nine flights at the Williams

young

man's

experience has spoken to

County fair. From Williston, Dixon

me

over

the years. Where

Cromwell

shipped

his

airplane by

rail to

Helena,

Dixon's aviation career began in Colum

Montana where

he

set

out to

cross the

bus, Ohio

in

1906 with his construction

Continental Divide, a feat which was re

of

a flying bicycle,

mine

began in

markable, not only for his youth, but for

Minot,

North

Dakota when

I was

17

the fact

that

so

many

had

tried and

so

flying a J-3 Cub. And where Cromwell

many had failed.

Dixon made the first flight across the

As

a

pilot for Frontier Airlines

and

Continental Divide at the age

of

19, r

later for Continental, I spent many years

continue to

fly

over the Divide as a re

flying the

"high

line," a series

of

cities

tired captain who now pursues the joys

on the great

northern plains which

in


12/36

Cromwell Dixon aviator at

the

Montana

State Fair September

30

1911 .

know. I ve wondered if, like me,

Cromwell Dixon came to appreciate the

rugged , often unforgiving beauties of the

Dakotas and Montana, where he made

his historic flight.

It is

hard to imagine

on

an

early morning still air arrival from

the

west crossing Mullan Pass with a

737, flaps 30 and the gear down and on

bug speed, that we were three

minutes

from the

end

of the

runway

at

Helena,

and Dixon's trip took 40 more minutes.

Coming only

eight

years after

the

Wright brothers' feat, Dixon s achieve

ment was as great

in

its way as was theirs.

Dixon flew his bamboo and fabric Curtiss

D-III biplane to an altitude

of7

,000 feet,

higher than man had flown previously.

Dixon's airplane appears

to be

a D-III ver

sion of the Curtiss D model, the primary

difference being that the ailerons pivoted

from the rear interplane strut. The other

significant difference was the fabric cover

ing on both top and bottom surfaces

of

the

wing. The engine on the D-III was a V-8

of 60 to 70 horsepower, and the wingspan

was 26 feet 3 inches. Taking off from He

lena's fairgrounds on September 30, 9

in the early afternoon, Dixon headed for

Blossberg,

Montana,

a 17 mile flight

through Mullan Pass where at 5,092 feet

above sea level, headwinds and turbulence

were the order

of

the day. Kind folks in

Blossberg set a large bonfire ablaze

to

sig

nal

to

Dixon his point

of

arrival which

he

reached at 2:34 p.m. He left the deep val

ley location of Blossberg at 3: 6 p.m. and

after struggling for altitude, reached 7,000

feet and landed at Helena at 3:59 p.m.,

claiming the $10,000 prize offered for the

first successful flight across the Continen

tal Divide. Cromwell had hoped that this

money would help him to

support

his

mother and sister who had given him so

much moral support

in

his search for avia

tion fame.

An

account

of

Dixon's feat was

recorded

in

the Montana Daily Record. It

was one of the most dangerous feats ever

attempted by man .

Death

was

pitted

against daring and daring won. Treacher

ous winds above,

jagged

peaks and

declivitous slopes below. It was a gamble.

Had for one instant fear crept into the heart

of the bird-boy- -the wind and rocks

would have claimed another victim.

It

was

not to be so. Two

days

later,

Cromwell Dixon's life came to an end as

his airplane crashed in Spokane during an

exhibition flight. He was just 9 years old

and lived scarcely long enough to enjoy

the fame and fortune

he

so richly deserved

for his achievements.

The State of Montana has chosen to

honor Cromwell Dixon through granite

memorials and murals at the Helena air

port terminal, plus a historic marker high

above MacDonald Pass where highway

2

crosses the Divide near Blossberg. One

day, several years ago, I drove

to

Helena

from my home in Big Fork

to

attend a din

ner meeting of the Cromwell Dixon

Society, a group

founded

here in

Montana whose members gather


13/36

FROM THE ARCHIVES

by

H G

Frautschy

The

next few editions

From

the Archives

will

focus on the Flaglor collection, a

don tion

of

negatives

of

Golden Age aircraft don ted by Ken Flaglor ofKansasville, WI

The Lockheed 10 Electra was one

ofthe

fastest transports in existence when it was

constructed, and many feeder airlines used

it

to

haul passengers and mail.

In

produc

tion

from

1934 until 1941, its launch cus

tomer

was Northwest, who flew their fast

Lockheeds allover

the

Midwest.

Popular w i

th Pan

American ir lines a

number of Central American operators

who were

Pan

Am affiliates also bought

Electras. This Mexican registered example

was operated by Aerovias ReformaslCMA.

S N

1007 Lockheed

10C

it

was delivered on

November

30

1934. It crashed 30 miles

southeast of Playa Vicente, Veracruz,

Mexico on November 1 1937.


14/36

WHEN I

FIRST SAW

74

ECHO

CHARLIE or should I say ZS-

AOA

she was resting quietly with both white wings tucked back and nestled in

close

to

her bright blue fuselage.

Yes

her wings do fold neatly back. She was in

the Western Museum

of

Flight hangar located on Hawthorne Airport in California.

As a Tiger Moth owner

of

many years, I was visiting my friend, Ed Clark,

owner of the Moth Works, located a few blocks from the

airport.

Several

times over the past years, Ed had taken me over to the Museum to look at his

Hornet Moth and other aircraft on display in the Museum. Ed displayed his

Hornet

at the front of the museum for

easy access

to the hangar

door and

Hawthorne s one paved runway.

Although in a museum, he flew his Hornet Moth regularly one trip as far

away as Seattle, Washington. He and his wife,

Connie

loved the Hornet.

Connie, as a matter of fact, picked out the colors when they restored it. By the

way 74 EC stands for the year Ed and Connie Clark were married and EC for

Ed and Connie.

Ed has specialized in the restoration

of

deHavilland aircraft and engines for

over thirty years. For many years, he has been building five Gipsy Moths, the

predecessor of the Tiger Moth, and two have since been sold. Like many vin-

tage aircraft restorers, Ed had a lot of irons in the fire and he reluctantly decided

to

sell his Hornet Moth.


15/36


16/36

74 Echo Charlie was built

in Hatfield, England,

in

1938

and first flew on July 9 of that

year. It was the third to the

last one built by the deHavil

land Aircraft Company. That

same month, it was crated and

packed for

export to

South

Africa. Arriving

in

August, it

was reassembled and flown

on August 23 at Johannes

burg . It

was

registered as

ZS-AOA to John R. Paget.

Several years later,

in

1940, it was impressed into

the SAAF (South African Air

Force) as #1584. It was used

for communications work and

during its five

years

in the

SAAF service, clocking about

600 hours.

In April 1959, she was reg

Roland Schable

of

Janesville, WI flies

Walt

Kessler s DH.87 Hornet

Moth

over

the

shore

of

Lake Geneva, WI

istered with C.

F.

Strecker at

during a glorious Wisconsin fall season. This shot by Ted Koston was taken

from

a Stearman flown by Tom

Rand

. Then it

was

sold to

Foreys

of

Woodale, IL.

several other owners (here it

gets a little

sketchy)

: a Mr.

Malherbe,

then J. D.

Haupt and

W. C.

Whitfield at Benoni in 1968.

The original Gipsy Major 130 hp en

gine was replaced with a Gipsy Major IC

engine rated at 145 hp. The newer engine

had been in storage for some time and then

installed in the Hornet in April

of

1968.

During April

of

1973, the engine had 312

hours since a major overhaul. On October

5, 1978, the registration was canceled as

ZS-AOA

and the

Hornet

Moth

was

ex

ported to the

United

States.

She spent

considerable time

in

storage

in

California

after purchase by her new owner. Robert

McJohnston, who subsequently sold her to

Ed Clark of Hawthorne, California, in Au

gust of 1985 .

Clark completely

over

hauled the engine

in

September of 1986.

New guides, sodium filled valves, cylin

ders, rods, pistons and rings were installed,

plus accessories and many other parts.

Sixty weight, straight mineral

oil is

used in the Gipsy engine during the sum

mer months. The airframe has 1,600 hours

and

is

covered with linen. Paint

is

Delstar

blue acrylic enamel and Fleet white with

Midnight blue for the striping. The linen

was put on about 12 years ago and the fab

ric still passes the punch test. Although

I ve

had lots

of

experience in taildragger

aircraft, including 17 years in the

Tiger

Moth, flying the Hornet Moth proved to be

a real challenge for me. When I first got

in

the left seat, taxiing proved to be a chore .

I was not familiar with the full castering

tailwheel or the Bendix mechanical brakes

and their idiosyncrasies.

Needless to say, my first few takeoffs

and landings on Hawthorne's hard surface

runway reminded me of some of my first

flight lessons years ago. They weren't that

great! I also heard all these wild stories

about the Hornet being tail heavy, which

she isn t, and how bad she

is

in a cross

wind, which she is. Several years before I

bought the aeroplane, Ed had wiped the

right gear out at Mojave Airport in a strong

crosswind

that

caught

him

off

guard . I

was prepared for the worst.

After all, this was a 56-year-old beau

tiful antique airplane. To

make

matters worse -

and

to my

knowl

edge - it is

the

only

Hornet

Moth


17/36

Ted Koston Photography

Capetown South Africa Youngs Field Aerodrome November 1966. Frank Wilson who

took the

photo met Walt at E Oshkosh and send him photographs of the Hornet

Moth when

it

was painted in a style obviously influenced by

the

Hollywood movie

The

cabin

of the

Hornet

Moth

has

a handy dual

grip stick and a pair

of

large toggle switches

for

the magnetos mounted near the center

of

the

instrument panel. The horizontal trim across the

middle separates two panels. The instrument

board can fold

down for

easy maintenance and

the lower board folds up for

access to

a small

storage area . The sliding panel on the left

when opened reveals a transponder and other

modern electronics.

quarters

of

the way back from the wing

leading edge. When the wings are in fly

ing

position

we make

sure that

four

spring-loaded pins, located at each lead

ing edge are

securely locked

into the

fuselage. After

the

pins are inserted

leather straps

extend over

the

pins

and

snap ftrmly into place.

A jury strut

is

hinged to each top wing

spar near both sides

ofthe

fuselage. When

flying, both jury struts are held

in

place by

a metal bracket beneath each top wing.

Before the wings are folded back, the

released around the

same

time.

are designed to allow the trailing edge to

slide beneath the fuselage. In the flying

mode, we make sure that both hinged

sections of the trailing edges of the up

per wings are down

in

their normal

position and locked

in

place.

t is

fairly easy to get in or out of the

Hornet. Once up on the left wing walk,

while crouching between the wings, you

swing your right leg

in

over the seat, then

you pull yourself across, putting all your

weight on your right leg.

t

helps to grab

the

steel wing-bracing bar

in the

cabin

overhead as you climb aboard.

The leather seats do not adjust but are

quite comfortable. The rudder pedals can

be adjusted to one of three positions, de

pending on your height.

The cabin is simple and very elegant.

You are surrounded with brass, a walnut

wood instrument panel and bright, shiny

aluminum. The cabin roof overhead

is

all

clear window, which makes for great visi

bility. When it does get too hot one

merely reaches back and pulls a neat sun

shade forward that locks into place over

head. There

is

even a rear view mirror that

makes it possible to see behind you while

taxiing or flying.

The

art and

the

quality of

the early

craftsmanship is evident throughout the

cabin's interior. Both walnut and leather

upholstered doors actually bow outward,

which gives both occupants plenty

of

el

bow room. The left door holds the large

brake handle and the throttle and mixture


18/36

At

Kessler

Field, Walt's private airport west of Chicago, the Hornet Moth strikes a pretty

pose as it waits for Walt

to

start the Gipsy Major engine and take off

to

enJoy the smooth

evening air.

controls. Above the left door pillar is the

elevator trim adjustment.

At

the left side

of

the instrument panel

is a large aluminum lever called an air

brake. When pushed down, both landing

gear struts

turn

flat against the slipstream,

thus reducing

the

airspeed considerably.

The lower half

of the

walnut wood

in-

strument panel is also on a brass hinge.

Lifting the panel toward you and upward,

reveals a large storage area . Also cleverly

hidden inside is a Mode C Transponder,

altimeter,

amp

gauge, intercom and Escort

II radio.

A sliding door at the left of the panel

lets you access

the

radio for communicat

ing and navigating, and viewing the

altimeter.

The

panel

of

instruments is

au-

thentic 1938 and yet when you lift the

hinged panel, there

are all the

modem

day

electronics

hidden away

from

view

.

I might add that Hawthorne Airport,

where

the

Hornet

was

based, is only a lit

tle more than three mi les away from

LAX.

It's

in Class B airspace, so all

these modern electronics were neces

sary and convenient.

the very wide cabin, the fuselage sides,

starting from the instrument panel for

ward,

angle sharply in toward

the

nose and

are

not

parallel with your direction

of take-

off or landing.

The P11 compass, which is five inches

in

diameter, sits

at the

center of

the

cabin

just

in

front

of the

control column.

It

has

a neat little light that

is

positioned just

above

it.

The fuel gauge is located between the

two leather seat back, at your right elbow.

The onlofffuel selector

is

a vertical lever

that slides up and down, and is located

next

to

the fuel gauge. 74 Echo Charlie

does have a complete electrical system,

shielded ignition,

nav

lights and a strobe at

the

bottom

of the

fuselage.

Starting

the

Gipsy Major engine is dif

ferent. First you must tickle the

carburetor; that

is,

hold down a small but-

ton

to

flood

it.

At

the

left. A push

of

the starter button

on

the

panel and it belches to life. The Gipsy

Major settles down

and

idles with that

fa-

miliar sound that reminds one of a Model

A Ford engine. Recommended procedure

is

to idle the engine at about 800 rpm for

about four minutes. Oil pressure should

be between 30 and 40 Ibs . when cold.

Within the cabin, it is a little noisy but

not too bad. You can still hear and con

versation can be carried on, however,

headphones

are the

order

of the day.

The Bendix differential brakes, once

you get used to them, are easy to use.

Full rudder pedal is demanded

in

either

direction, or when the ratcheted hand

brake lever is pulled, both wheel brakes

function together.

The

Hornet's angular

nose does

sit

high

while taxiing, which doesn't help with for-

ward visibility. Lined up into the wind,

we do our engine check and go through

our pre-takeoff checklist. There

is no

tem-

perature gauge, so after about four minutes

we run the engine

up

to 1800 rpm for a

mag check, then full throttle for max

power check.

The

brakes hold well

After checking

the

trim, throttle, brakes,

mixture, oil pressure, fuel selector lever,

compass, air brakes, doors and belts, and

we

clear our area, we give her

full

power

for

takeoff. Today,

the wind

is

right down

our favorite

grassy runway .

We

set the stick position for neutral

while we build

up

our airspeed.

We

bring

the tail up as soon as we have elevator

control and hold the stick forward. Now

our view is much better. The takeoff run

Continued on page -

same time,

you

reach

around the front of

the engine with your

right hand, to the left

side of the engine. A

SPECIFIC TIONS

DEH VILL ND HORNET MOTH

130 horsepower

Gipsy

Major


19/36

Built when a compass still cost

extra the

938

Piper Cub

Sport could be

h d

with all

sorts ofoptions.


20/36

Leslie

Hilbert

The original steerable, non-swivel tailwheel was

tough

to

find. Originally

an

option on the Cub

Sport, one was finally tracked down,

with

a rare

tire found by Clyde.

The similarities were most appar

ent

in the

wing structure

.

Basically

the same, except for the curved root

rib, the wing has built-up metal ribs

and wood spars. The ribs

proved

to

be quite a challenge for John (EAA

144458) of Hudsonville, MI and his

fellow restorers,

his

cousin Sam

Beach (EAA 550081) and the Cub

Doctor

," Clyde Smith, Jr. (EAA

48316, V AA 20765).

Sam hails from

Greenville,

MI

and had some extra time on his hands

one summer

while

he

was

between

engineering jobs . Sam's two-week

trip down to Hudsonville, MI would

The cockpit

of

the J 3C Cub Sport was also different from the trainer model. The uphol

stered side panels and varnished floorboards were unique to the model. The pre-war black

face instruments

with the

Cub logo were expertly rebuilt and refaced by Keystone

Instruments,

Lock

Haven, PA. The magneto switches are

the

pushbutton variety, changed

a year later

fter complaints bout the switches came

to

Piper s ttention.


21/36

of expertise. That's when he called

in the Cub Doctor.

Clyde Smith,

Jr., has been

men

tioned before in the pages

of

Vintage

Airplane, for a very sound reason.

Clyde's

been around Piper airplanes

ever

since he was born . His father,

Clyde Smith, Sr., worked in the Piper

plant in Lock Haven, P A for most

of

the time the plant was open. Starting

in 1941, Clyde, Sr. was Piper's

chief

test pilot during WW-II, and was the

head of the experimental test flying

department through the

1950s.

He

retired from

Piper in 1975.

His

son

was born in December of 1947 dur

ing the heady days of the post-war

lightplane boom.

Dad didn't push

junior

into avia

tion, preferring to

allow

the young

man to choose his own path. Still, as

he

matured,

he did

enter aviation,

earning his A&P and an engineering

degree, and

just

a

couple

of

weeks

after graduating from college, young

Clyde

went

to

work

in the drafting

department

of

Piper Aircraft.

In

the early 1970s, his interest in

homebuilt aircraft led him to the an

nual EAA

member's

Convention in

Oshkosh, WI,

and

as things turned

out, as

Antique

/

Classic Division

members discovered Clyde worked

at Piper, they began questioning him

about the correct configuration about

their various projects. He'd head

back to Lock Haven with a notebook

full

of

questions, and before he knew

it, he became the man.

He'd

be the

first to tell you, how

ever, that the man

is really

his

father,

especially in the be

ginning,

when he'd

ask

his

father

to fill

in the missing details.

These days, Clyde

Smith,

Jr. is

kept

busy putting on Piper

restoration clinics,

where

he

shares

his

20-plus years

of

Piper

experience

with

fel

low restorers, and

each year at EAA

AirVenture,

he

puts

on the Cub Forum, one that has inter

ested

Piper

fans spilling out of the

tent straining to hear each word.

The father and son team of Smith

and Smith have restored a number

of

Pipers, including a Vagabond, a Clip

per and a J-3, the same one formerly

owned by the Piper employees flying

club. For many, the crowning

restoration

will

long be the

PA-12

Super Cruiser which earned a Grand

The

J-3C also came with a set of snazzy aileron cable exit fair

ings and you can also see the very necessary aileron gap seals .


22/36

All of the side

glass

is thin Plexiglas, replacing

the

original but delicate 0.60 in. acetate win

dows. The peanut shell wheel pants are reproductions of original metal pants available

as

an

option on

the

Cub Sport,

as

are

the

metal shock cord covers on

the

landing gear. Both

were installed on

the

airplane when

it

was delivered, but brakes, another option, were not.

John and Clyde opted to install

an

original set of brakes.

Champion

Classic

trophy

at

EAA

Oshkosh '86, and previously at the

Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In. It seemed to

pick up the hardware everywhere it

went, and deservedly so.

With such a resume, it wasn't too

hard for John to know

who

to ask ,

but would he come? Happily, they

were able to

come

to an agreement ,

and

for the next

three

years , Clyde

would spend an extended period

of

time working side-by-side with John

and Sam as they rebuilt an airplane

said to be

n

deplorable shape.

There was plenty to do Once the

fuselage was

cleaned

up and ready

for paint, Clyde applied Randolph

Rand-O-Plate primer, followed by a

coat

of

white Fuller O'Brien epoxy

to the test, including the

engine

oil

tank . Not your regular "kidney" tank,

this tank was a rolled piece

of

galva

nized steel,

soldered

together and

then painted. The boot cowl had to

be replicated, as did the three-piece

windshield. A set of cast aluminum

engine valve covers had to be found

to replace

the

badly corroded parts

found in the

chicken

coop, and Cub

restorer Dave Henderson was able to

come up with those .

Each visit with the Meyers would

result in a little bit

more

of

the Cub

being complete, and

finally,

nearly

three

years

after

beginning

with

a

pile of parts that had been walked on

by chickens, John

Meyer's

J-3C was

ready

to

take

to the air,

restored

to

exacting standards as it was the day

it rolled out into to

sunshine

in the

valley

of the west

branch

of

the

Susquehanna river. I t first flew again

after its restoration on September 5,

1995. John Meyer was thrilled with

the

final

product

of

their

labor, and

of

his new friend, Clyde Smith, Jr.

I can't say

enough

about

his

workmanship, enthused John, He

is an interesting guy to work with

we have a lot in common . . . it was a

fun project for me."

The following

summer, a

trip

to

Oshkosh

was

made

, and the judges

and spectators got

a gl i

mpse

of

the

past. The week was spent answering

questions (when Dan Knutson was

n't

out

looking at

other

Pipers

with

Clyde Smith ) and when it was time

for the awards ceremony at the EAA

Theater in the Woods, the announced

winner of the

Bron

ze Age

(1933

1941) Champion of EAA Oshkosh

'96

was Piper J-3C

Cub

Sport

NC21646, restored by John Meyer ,

Clyde

Smith and Sam Beach. Stick

ing to the original script was the best

way

to get

just

what

John

wanted,

and pretty

Cub

just

like

it

was

, al

most 60 years ago. ......

Sitting behind a Continental A-50 swinging a Flottorp prop (made just a

few

miles down the

road from John's boyhood home), John Meyer enjoys fly ing his Cub Sport

from the

back seat,

where thousands of new pilots first soloed.


23/36

Aeronca retiree and

SIN

2 Chief restor

er Bob Hollenbaugh of Middletown

OH

sent in this month s Mystery Plane.

The photo was taken while he was a

student at Parks Air College in Cahokia,

IL

just south of

East St.

Louis IL. In

1940

the large amphibian was

flown

in

to

be serviced, then

it

hopped over

town to Curtiss-Steinberg field.

pril Mystery lane

y

H.G. Frautschy

Our January Mystery Plane from

George Townson created a little stir of

interest from those who remember the

project, including Harry

C.

Luecke, of

Lexington, NC:

Dear Sir,

It is

good

to

know that George

Townson is still active. I remember him

back

in

the early thirties when he was

working at the Northeast Philadelphia

Airport when I was learning to fly. He

must be

in

his eighties, since I

am 84

1 have enclosed two photos (one be

low and

on

the next page) o the

January Mystery Plane that were taken

in the early thirties

at

the

Boulevard

Airport in Philadelphia. I never saw it

fly, but it had to get there!

It looks li ke someone 's

noble

ex

periment.

Harry Luecke

(EAA 322834, V AA 24214)

Now we can

answer

Harr

y's

decades long question - who's no-

ble experiment is this?

The

January "Mystery Plane

" is

the Hall-Aluminum "Monoped. "

The Monoped was the personal air

craft of Charles Ward Hall, who was

dedicated to the use ofaluminum in air

craft structures at a time when wood

and steel tubing were the accepted ma

terials. He also pioneered the concepts

of

weight control and

of

using aerody

namic forces for stress reliefor transfer.

Perhaps this plane can be described

as lookin

g

li k

e a

porcine Rearwin

Speedster. It derives its name from the

unusual landing gear, a single central

retractable Goodyear

22

x 10.4 wheel,

supplemented by small outriggers lo


24/36

tle Monop ed

had

a top

speed o

130

mph. Wingspan was

32

feet; length

25 feet.

Hall lost his life

in

the Monoped on

21

Augu

s t

1936,

when th e

airplane

struck a tree in heavy

fog

at Hopwell,

New Jersey. At the time of the crash

the

plane

had

logg

ed

mor

e than

530

hour

s.

The Monoped was his next to

la

st design and probably his favorite

of

the 31 aircraft

of

seven different types

he created

in

his lifetime.

Hal/

's

co

n

cep

ts

did not die

with

him, however,

and

his pioneering u

se

o aluminum was adopted by

many

other firms. He was an engineering

genius whose advanced ideas on metal

work

ing

ease

d

the

transition

from

for a wood spar upper wing.

The experience gave him sufficient

co nfidence in his

skills

to set up his

own engineering firm,

and

b

eg

in bid

ding on Navy contracts. It was a move

that would keep him prospero us dur

in

g the Great De

pr

ession

of

the 1930

s.

With

good judgm

e

nt

and effic i

e

nt

management Hall ke

pt

his

firm small

and prosperous during this

p e

riod

when

one

major co

mpany

after an-

other went bankrupt.

Charles Ward Hall's greatest legacy

was the

pursuit of

weight

cont

rol, an

idea more important now than when he

was

blazing

new trails in

str

uctu re.

Unfort

unat

ely no

exampl

e

o

Hall

s

handiwork survives today.

Ref:

Airpower,

Sept

.

7

Now

There's a rare Bird-Walt Boyne

Wing

s

Jun

e 75, Th

e Flying Hall

marks-Walt Boyne

Ke ep Em

Flying and

K

ee

p Us

Gu essin

g

H.G,

Cheers,

Larry Knechtel

EAA 391208, VAA 17648

Seattle, WA

Correct answers were also received

from:

Doug Rounds Zebulon GA ;

Harry O Barker, Jr., West Milford, NJ;

Pete Bowers, Seattle, WA and Joseph

J

Tarafas, Bethlehem, PA.


25/36

PASS IT TO BUCK

by E.E.

Buck

Hilbert

EAA

#21 VAA

#5

P.O.

Box

424,

Union,

IL

60180

Little Rocket No. 2

193 All American Fl y ing

Derby - Little Rocket - Command

A

ire

-

Lee

Gehlbach

-

Albert

Vollmecke - Joe Araldi - Sun n

Fun Museum - Lakeland, FL

They a ll come together, although

it is been many years since the A

ll

American Flying Derby of 1930.

The A

ll

American Fly

n

g Derby

was

sponso

red

by

the

American

Cirrus Corporation, makers

of

the

Cirrus line of aircraft engines . To

promote their engines, they offered

a 15,000 do

llar

prize for the win-

ner. The race course was some five

Joe Araldi pilo

ts the

Little Rocket No.

2

powered by a Wr i

ght

Gipsy in place of the original

American Cirrus Corporation engine. lbert concurred on the engine change,

re

marking

that

t he

Wright would

have been

the

choice

if

the

Ro

cket had gone i

nto

production . Purpose-bui

lt to

enter and w in the All American ir Derby of

1930

th e sleek monoplane won the 5 541 mile race

reaching speeds of up to 200 mph on one leg. It s average speed of

12

7.

11

mph.


26/36

The exquisite woodwork done by

Joe

Araldi on the Little Rocket

No.2 can

be

seen

in these

two

views of the aft fuselage. The lightweight but

strong design by Alber t Vollmecke

is

evident in the light bulkheads and veneer turtledeck.

The

unique wheels are a testament to

the

genius of Albert Vollmecke, who did all he could

to get every bit of

speed

out

of

the Little Rocket. Each of the wheels

also

incorporates

the

only shock absorbing in the landing gear. The skinny wheels and tires

didn t

help any on

the bump soaking-up department

Joe

Araldi and

his

friend Harry Stenger built them up,

machining the castings and recreating the remarkable units.

in

the

shadow of

the Gee Bees, the

Howards and the Big Iron growlers

of

signer, Albert Vollmecke during

a

Cognac frontal passage they were im

passing Cognac front, the revelation

of the Little

Rocket

plans, the germ

of an idea, and the culmination of

that first flight.

Aero Digest, Sept.

1930 had the

whole American Air race

n

great de

tail,

including

the original National

Aeronautic Association record

sheets. Joe was born sixty two years

too late to be

part of

it,

but believe

me,

he s

flown that race many times

in

his mind after test flying serial

number two. His admiration for the

designer and the pilot, Lee Gehlbach

who flew it to victory are soon evi

dent when you read or listen to his

story.

Little Rocket ushered in a number

of super-light

racing planes

in the

next few years. Howard s

Mike

and

Ike,

Chester s

Goon and Jeep, Folk

erts

SK series, and The Miles &

Atwood racer were built after the Lit

tle

Rocket proved

it

could

be done.

Still, the big growlers like the Laird

Turner and

the

Marcoux-Bromberg


27/36

Continuedfrom page

-

is short and the Hornet gets

off

in less

than 200 yards. We are lightly loaded

and are underway.

Aileron control is pretty good. At 70

mph we climb out at about 600 feet

per

minute rate of climb.

The

Hornet Moth cruises

as nice as

my Cessna 182.

t

is a very stable plat

form easy to

trim

and we

even

have a

rudder

trim . a

ratcheted horizontal

bracket beneath the instrument panel that

is

easy

to

adjust.

The Hornet

Moth s

nose really slants

downward

below

the

horizon

- more

nose down than other aircraft which gives

it excellent forward visibility while in

cruise. There

is

a tendency at fITst to take

off

and climb too steeply. As a result

attention should be paid to the airspeed in

dicator rather than the feel or aspect

of

the

Hornet. At 2 050 rpm we do about 105

mph in cruise.

The Hornet handles beautifully for long

cross country trips. The stall which oc

curs at about 40 mph

is

quite gentle.

Coming into the pattern speed

is

easy

to dissipate as we can push down the air

brake lever at any speed either for slowing

down

or

decreasing the float on landing.

The air brake reduces top speed about 35

mph. Without the air brake the Hornet

tends to float and the glide is very flat

On downwind we bring the power back

to about 1 700 rpm

and

about 80

mph

.

Our pre-landing check is simple: brakes

mixture fuel doors belts on look for traf

fic .

On final, at

about 400

feet I

pull

down the air brake lever with my left hand

and the Hornet settles back to about 65

mph. Rudder and elevator control are fme

but aileron control

is

a little slow.

t takes a while to get used to the con

trol column,

especially

in turbulent

conditions and not having it directly in

front

of

you. Over the fence we come

in

at

55-60 mph and do a wheel landing. Most

pilots

land

the

Hornet

using

the

wheel

landing technique.

The Hornet has a springy but very

strong gear that sometimes gives you

some excitement when you least want or

expect it. Landing run in a 5 mph head

wind

is

supposed to be about

125

yards.

With wheel landings however the landing

roll is much longer.

Ninety

degree crosswinds are as bad

with the Hornet as they are with most tail

draggers

. Anything

over

8 to 10

mph

makes

your

landing

or takeoff

a No-Go

situation. As we taxi the wings are very

close to the ground so we must be in full

control all the way

to

shut down. At 1000

rpm

I close the

throttle, switch

off

the

mags and then open the throttle. When the

engine stops I close the throttle. Mag ig

nition switch and radio are turned off.

One thing I have learned flying the old

antiques including the Hornet Moth .

. .

they are all different. Each one has its

own moods and characteristics and most

handle differently from each other. Know

ing how to fly

one

taildragger doesn t

make you an expert on all taildraggers. As

TH

HORN T FLI S HOM

_

To

help with

the flying

chores

I

enlisted

a

good

friend

of

With

blue

skies all around us

at

Albuquerque,

a stationary

mine

- Roland

Schable from Janesville, Wisconsin.

Flying

front

had

settled

in

just

over

the

Sandia

Mountains to

the

out of

the

L.A. basin can be a zoo,

especially flying an unfa

east this

held

us up for

two

days.

Finally, early the

miliar

56-year-old

airplane. As we departed

Hawthome,

our

morning

of the third

day,

we were ready to depart

Coronado

intent was to

follow

a highway east with

Blythe

as our first

Airport.

During

the

runup,

the

engine started

missing

again.

fuel stop.

This time it was the

back

cylinder's

plugs

that went bad. For

The

L.A. area had

the

usual haze and

what

seemed like a tunately, we had along six spare Lodge

plugs

(British) and we

hundred freeways all

going in

different

directions.

replaced

both fouled plugs.

When we

landed at Blythe , the temperature was 110

With fuel stops at

Tucumcari

and Dodge City,

we

finally ar

on the runway. After refueling and doing our runup, the

rived about 8:30 p.m. at Topeka Airport, where we stayed

rpm indicator needle got tired and started to oscillate and

the night. We did almost 800 miles this one day.

then the cable snapped. It really didn t affect the flight any

Next morning we were off at 8:15 and

made

a fuel

stop

at

because, in anticipation of this happening, I

had

put a

Ottumwa. What

a

wind

Roland got out and as I taxied in for

pencil mark on the throttle quadrant, indicating where

fuel,

he

held the wings as best

he

could.

(Our

charts also


28/36

I said, they

are all

different. The key is to know your airplane in

side and

out.

Know

its

good

habits

and especially

its

bad ones, if

it

has any.

f 165

Hornet Moths manufactured

by

deHaviliand from

1934

to

1938,

less than

40

remain. The original D.H.87A

models

with

the

tapered wings

are

almost extinct; only

one in

Australia,

one in a museum in Edmonton, Canada and, I believe,

several

in

Great Britain.

Presently

there are only about

12

Hornets

flying in

the world

with 74

Echo

Charlie being the only

one

in North America. She

is registered in the U.S.

as 74 EC

Experimental-Exhibition and in

South Africa

as

ZS-AOA.

She has

been

featured in several Hollywood movies.

In 1989

74EC was in a five hour miniseries on NBC called 'Til We

Meet Again," based on

the

novel by Judith Krantz. She was also

in

one segment of the Designing Women" television series.

The

Hornet

Moth

is

one neat airplane, but, like some women I

know, does

demand

your undivided attention.

It's also an endangered species. Like other antique aircraft,

there aren't

too

many of them left .

We

need to preserve them

all.

In

order

to

do this,

we

need to get more tricycle gear pilots

and new

pilots

into tailwheel

type airplanes or, in

the

future,

the

only

antiques around

will be the

modem Spam-cans oftoday.

Let's fly

1 wrote to six names and addresses

found

in the Hornet

Moth's logbooks, all ofthem at least 50 years old. 1put a 1

bill in each envelope with a short letter seeking information

on the Hornet.

Most thought I'd never hear from anyone. Four weeks

later,

Jack

Spencer sent

me

a letter with about 20 docu

DEHAVILLAND HORNET

MOTH HISTORY

The Homet

Moth

D.H.87A

was

touted

as a

magnificent

two

place cabin biplane. Gone forever are

the

days

of

draughty

cockpits - helmets - goggles -

long

distance

conversa

tions through voice tubes. The modem air tourist flies

in

the

comfort and quietude of the Homet Moth

Cabin

so the

British ads

expounded.

The year was 1936 and

although

introduced on May 9,

1934, many

Homet Moth

owners and pilots were not

very

happy

with its long tapered wings.

Also, instead

of a touring

ship, many were

being

used as

trainers

and low

time pilots

were

having problems with the sharp stall characteristics.

So, Geoffrey

deHaviliand

decided to change things. he

added more wing area and made

the

wing tips sort of square.

Thus, the D.H.87B was bom.

The Homet Moth was

the

87th in a long line of deHaviliand

aircraft. A pilot report in 1935 stated that,

The

center

of

gravi

ty was

arranged

so that, once the aircraft

was

in the

air,

there is

no

necessity to use the

rudders

at

all.

Ordinary flying maneuvers can

be

carried out perfectly by

the

use

of

elevators

and

ailerons

only.

On

a

cross-country

flight,

the pilot

can

take

his

feet

off

the

rudder pedals and con

trol the machine entirely

by

the stick.

The fuselage of the

Homet

is

all wood with longerons and

struts covered with plywood. On the outside of the plywood

are additional longeron stringers which support the fabric

covering. Inspection

plates

are

located

in the floor of the

fuselage

- one large enough to

put

your

head

into, which

makes

for

easier inspections.

The

biplane wings have two spars

of

solid spruce and,

of

course,

interplane

struts are

located on

each

side,

joining

the

top

and

the

bottom wings. Ailerons are

on the

lower wings

only.

The

wings fold back for easy storage. Overall width

when

folded

back is only 9 ft. 10 in. In 1934, deHaviliand

introduced the

trim tab to

the

Homet

Moth,

instead of

the

trimming gear for

the

tail plane. The Homet is

also

equipped with a castering tail

wheel. Beneath the two seats is plenty of storage area for

tools, extra oil

and

other flight gear.

The

battery

is

located

beneath

the

right seat.

Luggage area for 130

Ibs.

is

also

provided right

behind

the

seats

and over

the

fuel tank, which holds 35 Imperial gallons.

The instrument panel is finished

in walnut

veneer and houses

the

standard

instruments

of

the

thirties: airspeed

indicator,

rpm

indicator,

altimeter, tum and

slip

indicator, vertical

climb

indica


29/36

Fly In alendar

months prior to

the

event date.

APRIL 25

-

HALF MOON BAY, CALIFORNIA

9th annual Pacific

Coast

Dream Machines fly-in at

Half

Moon

Bay Airport,

10

a.m.

- 4p.m.

Antiques

,

classics

, warbirds.

vintage

autos, tnlcks. Contact:

650/726-2328.

MAY ABiLENE KS

-

Abilene

Aviation Associa

tion Annual

Fly-1n 99

and Pancake Feed. Info:

785/263-3970.

MA Y

7-9 -

PINEHURST/SOUTHERN PINES, NC

Moore County Airport (SOP). EAA Chapter

3

Spring

Fly-In.

Trophies

, EAAfellowship, Friday golf

tour

nament,

Sat. banquet/guest speaker, Sunday poker

nm

, YE.

flights

,

vintageaviationfilms,

HQ:

Holiday

Inn, Southern Pines, 910/692-3212. In

fo:

910/947

6896, -1853 (Fax) or the web: www.southern

aviator.

com/ad/

MAY

8 -

ALPENA,

MI

(APN)

EAA

Chapter 1021

Spring Bust

Out Pancake breakfast,

8:00 AM to

12:00 noon. Aerobatics demonstration by a local

Yak 55 and Glider Towing Demonstration by

Alpena Soaring Club. For informatio

vintage airplane - apr 1999

Documents