vintage airplane - aug 1976

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Aug 1976

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..THE RESTORER S ORNER

Many stories have been written about finding antique airplanes in barns,garages, on mountain sides, in jungles, and even submerged in lakes. Eachof these stories gives us antiquers renewed hope that we, too, will someday find the antique airplane of our dreains in some extremely unlikelylocation and will pack it up and cart it hqme to our garage to be restoredand preserved for posterity and, incidently, to win us a few Grand Championships along the way. While most of these stories which we hear andread are true, these finds are really becoming more and more infrequent.Let's face it. We can actually ascertain the number of aircraft built by eachmanufacturer from the start of Type Certification in 1927 up to World WarII This was only a span of fourteen years. If we were to total up the antiques known to exist today (flying, in storage, or being restored) and thenadd a reasonable percentage factor for the aircraft totally destroyed, wewould find that the difference, namely, those which have not as yet beenfound, is a very small number.Since we are attracting more people to our hobby all the time and wantto continue to do so, what is the solution? How can we come up withenough old aircraft so that everyone who wants a vintage airplane can haveone? The answer can be found in one word: REPLICAS.

There is much to be said for the replica. First of all, it is usually a wellproven design. Second, it is easily recognizable as a rare bit of aviationhistory, and only an expert can distinguish it from an original if the buildersticks religiously to the plans. Third, replicas come in all sizes, shapesand horsepower to fit all sizes of pocketbooks.

Among the more exotic, and sometimes more expensive, replicas arethe World War I fighters, especially so if the builder decides to use anoriginal engine. There are several organizations devoted to fostering theconstruction of World War I replicas, and they are enjoying moderatesuccess at the moment. Through these organizations information is availableto help the prospective builder obtain plans and parts. We can expect thesegroups to grow to a much larger size as more interest is generated .There are several certificated aircraft of years ago which are now or have

by J R. NIELANDER , JR.

been available in plans form. Examples are the Great Lakes Trainer, HeathParasol and the Mooney Mite. The old familiar J-3 Cub has been broughtback to life in both plans and kit form as the CUBy. Besides these there aremany more which would make beautiful and relatively easy replicas tobuild if the plans were made available. To name just a few, there are theAeromarine Klemm, Driggs Dart, American Eaglet, Aeronca C-3 and KCurtiss-Wright Junior, Buhl Bull Pup , Spartan C-2, Rearwin Junior ,Taylor Cub, and Wiley Post Model A All of these designs have one commondenominator. Their horsepower requirements are such that they can bepowered by an engine of the Volkswagon class.If one wants to go to the next larger size aircraft with more horsepower,designs such as the Monocoupe, Savoia-Marchetti S-56B Amphibian,Fairchild 22 , Kinner Playboy, and Sportwing, Rearwin Sportster andSpeedster, Kari-Keen, Aeronca LC Davis 0-1, Inland Sport, CrosleMoonbeam , Mohawk Pinto , Arrow Sport , and Culver Dart and Cadetcould also be very interesting replicas.There are also numerouS beautiful designs from Europe. The ChiltonD. W. 1, Miles Hawk, Tipsy Sportster and Junior, and Klemm KL35Dare just a few excellent examples.All that is needed to give impetus to the antique replica movement isthe availability of good usable drawings. Many of us have partial or evencomplete sets of drawings for one or more of these old aircraft. We havethem stored away in a closet or in the attic or basement. Some sheets areso faded as to be almost unreadable. However, in the hands of the righttechnicians with the proper equipment, the faded lines could be brought out,and using today's techniques , these plans could be copied and reprinted inan exceptionally legible form. Then they could be made available to thosevintage aircraft enthusiasts who are unable to find the basket case of theirchoice to restore as well as to those who would just feel a lot better knowingthat they, themselves, had built their own vintage airplane and that it hadbeen constructed using all new materials. It's an interesting prospect forthe future, isn't it?


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EDITORIALSTAFF

Publisher EditorPaul H Poberezny AI KelchANTIQUE AND CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERS

PRESIDENT VICE-PRESIDENTJ. R. NIELANDER, JR. MORTON LESTERP. O. BOX 2464 P. O. BOX 3747FT. LAUDERDALE, FL 33303 MARTINSVILLE , VA 24112SECRETARYRICHARD WAGNERP. O. BOX 181LYONS , WI 53148

Term expires August '77Claude L. Gray , Jr .9635 Sylvia Avenue

Northridge , Cal i fornia 91 324James B. Horne

3840 Coronation RoadEagan. Minnesota 55122

George E. StubbsBox 113

Brownsb urg . Indiana 4611 2William J. Ehlen

Route 8, Box 506Tampa. Florida 33618

TREASURERE. E. " BUCK " HILBERT8102 LEECH RD.UNION, IL 60180Directors

Term expires August '76AI Kelch7018 W. Bonniwetl Road

Mequon , Wisconsi n 53092Evander M. Britt

Box 1525Lumberton, North Carolin a 2 8358

M . C. " Kelly " VietsRR 1. Box 151Sti lwe ll. KS 66085Jack C . Winthrop

3536 Whitehall DriveDallas. Texas 75229

Assistant EditorLois KelchCentributing EditorsH. N. " Dusty " Rh odesEvand er Britt

Jim BartonClaude GrayEd EscallonRod SpanierDale GustafsonHenry Wheeler

Morton LesterKelly VietsBob Elli o t

Jack LanningBill ThummaGlenn Buffington

ADVISORSW. Brade Thomas. Jr .30 1 Dodson Mill Road

Pilot Mountain , North CArolina 27041

Robert A White1207 Falcon DriveOrlando. Florida 32803

THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE is owned exclusively by Antique Classic Aircraft , Inc. and is published monthlyat Hales Corners , Wisconsin 53130. Second class Pos tage paid at Hales Corners Post Office , Hales Cor-ners , Wisconsin 53130 and Random Lake Post Office , Ran d om Lake . Wisconsin 53075. Membership ratesfor Antique Class aircraft. In c. at $14 .00 per 12 mon th period of which $ 10.00 is for th e publication ofTHE VINTAGE AIRPLANE . Membership is open to all who are interested in avia t ion .

Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Antique Classic Aircraft , Inc., Box 229,Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130

OFFICIAL MAGAZINEANTIQUE / CLASSIC

DIVISIONof

THE EXPERIMENTAL AIRCRAF T ASSOCIATION

AUGUST 1976 VOLUME 4 NUMBER 8

The Res tor er s Corner . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1A Silver Eagle - Part II . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. . . .. . . .. . . .. . .. . . . . . . 3Watsonville . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... .. .. . . . . . . , . . . . . . .. . . . . . , .. , 7Vintage Album .. . . .. . .. . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . .. . . .. .. .. 9Gates Flying Circus . . . . . .. ... . . . . .. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. . ... . . . . 11Treasure Hunt . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . .. . . . . . . . . .. .. .. . . . .. ... 13Bill Menefee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. 13Ea rly Bird Vignette - Bobb i Trou t . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . . .. . .. . . . . . . . , 16Whistling In The Rigging . . . . . . . . . . . . . ... . . . . . . . .. . . . . . .. . . . . . . 17National Ercoup e Fly-In .. . . .. . .. . . . . . . . . . .. .. . .. .. . . . . . . . . . ... 18Calendar of Events . . . . .. .. , .. .. . ... . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .. . .. 18EAA ANTIQUE/CLASSIC DIVISION MEMBERSHIP

o NON-EAA MEMBER - $34 .00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique/Classic Division , 12monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; one year membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association , 12 monthly issues of SPORT AVIATION and separate membership cards .o NON-EAA MEMHER - $20.00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique /Classic Division , 12monthly issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE; one year membership in the Experimental Aircraft Association and separate membership cards. SPORT AVIATION not included .o EAA MEMBER - $14 .00. Includes one year membership in the EAA Antique/Classic Division , 12 monthlyissues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE and membership card . (Applicant must be current EAA member andmust give EAA membership number .

PICTUREBOX(Back Cover)FRONT COVERPainting of 1918 Jenny by Ralph SteeleJim Nissen s 1918 Jenny won Grand Curtiss Military Tractor From JackChampion a t Watsonville see Page 7 Rose collection 1918 pictures

Copyr ight l 1976 Antique Classic Aircraft . Inc . All Rights Reserve:!. 2


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A SILVERg l e

PART Highlights of 1930)A BIOGRAPHY OF E M MATTY LAIRD

By Robert G Elliott Ed Escallon1227 Oakwood Ave. 335 Milford Dr.Daytona Beach FL 32014 Merritt Island FL 32952The highligh t of 1930 proved to be the design andconstruction of the Solution racer, which became

the first and only biplane to win the coveted ThompsonTrophy race for the fastest aircraft of the day. TheSolution had been built in a record thirty days and

was completed just one hour before the race. In thefollowing year, Matty's newest racer, the SuperSolution became the first aircraft to win the newBendix Trophy, setting the trans-continental speedrecord of 11 hours, 15 minutes, under the very capablepilotage of Jimmy Doolittle.

An Executive Transport biplane became the nextchallenge to be designed and fabricated at the Lairdfactory at Ashburn Field. Construction was mixed withan aluminum semi-monocoupe finely tapering fuselage, fabric covered wood wings, and a steel tubingcenter section. The prototype was built to an orderplaced by George Horton, President of Chicago Bridgeand Iron. Special features included an on-board lavatory and provisions for the eventual incorporation ofretractable gear. Performance data of the 450 hp prototype included 180 mph cruise airspeed with over 200mph at full power.While the Sesquiwing was begun in 1931, theailing economy together with extensive fabricationdetails required for the aircraft, delayed it s roll-outuntil 1934. About the time that factory flight testswere completed, but just prior to their being submittedfor ATC certification, Mr. Horton suffered a fatalheart attack. Subsequently the airplane was given tohis Alma Mater, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute inTroy, New York. Sadly, the aircraft s subassemblieswere last seen undergoing various s tress tests foraero-engineering classes. Although no doubt of greateducational value, it is a pity this one-of-a-kind Lairdwas not preserved instead of being destroyed.

E M Matty) LAIROThe middle thirties saw the development of a hugeairline industry in this country. Chicago became amajor airline hub and drew heavily on the aviationtalent in the area. Many of Mr. Laird's employees

went with the airlines during the lean year that enveloped the Laird Company, and a few are still involved in the management of this industry today.After a few years of operation, the DC-3, which hadbecome the airlines workhorse, began to requirerefurbishment of the fuel tanks due to corrosion.Matty bid against the Curtiss Company for this workand won the contract offered by American Airlines.In the ensuing years, work on these tanks for American, United, TWA and Braniff provided steady income for the Laird factory. Matty also contracted tobuild passenger loading stands for the airlines.

Reminiscent of the ear ly thirties period Matty'srace-to-the-race continued into 1937, when RoscoeTurner brought in two projects just two months be

fore the National Air Races. They were his damagedWedell Williams, and a partially completed new racer.Matty's brother Harold was assigned to rebuild theWedell, which had been a victim of carburetor icing,causing an engine-out landing in the wastelands ofNew Mexico.Its many flights as a basketcase hadn't helped thelightweight airframe either. Despite it s condition,Harold and his team were able to meet the time scheduleand ready the golden racer for the upcoming NationalAir Races. Joe Mackey piloted this plane in severalsubsequent seasons under an agreement with Roscoe. Obsolescence and technical problems preventedit from ever again placing in a major event.Roscoe s second major project was a racer whichhad been designed by Messers. Barlow and Akermanof the University of Minnesota and whose subsequent

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(Photo Courtesy E M Matty Laird)ABOVE: Laird Solution, in which SpeedHolman won the Thompson TrophyRace in 1930. This aircraft was thirtydays old the day of the race, havingbeen completed about one hour beforethe race began , allowing time enoughfor a short test hop and refueling due toa short postponement of the ThompsonRace start.

LEFT: Speed Holman.(Photo Courtesy E M Matty Laird)

Laird Super Solution in completed rig ,ready for a race,

(Photo Courtesy E M Matty Laird)ABOVE: The Laird Sesquiwing under construction.

(Photo Courtesy E. M Matty Laird)LEFT: Jimmy Doolittle s congratulated byMatty Laird after winning the Bendix Race,September, 1931

(Photo Courtesy E M Matty Laird)BELOW: Full view of completed Laird Sesquiwing .


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. (Photo Courtesy E M. Matty Laird)photograph made at 1930 Chicago National ir Races which were conductedat Curtiss-Reynolds Airport, Chicago. Speed Holman is shown at rightrounding a pylon in the Laird Solution . Upper center is what is believedto be the plane of rthur Page, who w s pulling out of race . Page m adecrash land ing and died of injuries, wh ile Holman w ent on to win th e Thomp son Trophy Race

con struction had been beg un by Lawrenc e Brown of Los Ange les . Va rioustechnical, perso nal and financial problems had erupted during th e projectforcing Roscoe to ha ve the a irplane' sas se mblies shipped to Ma tty for comple tion . A rev iew of th e des ign revealed a w ing configura tion which wasun suit able for th e challenges of theBendi x a nd Th omp son. The win gs weredi sassembl ed to th e spars and rebuiltwith th e in tern al drag bracing lightened ,as we ll as a grea tly imp roved fu se lageattach me th od incorpora ted . Ex is tin ga ilero ns we re used , wi th the fla ps extend ed to cove r th e span add ed to th ewing. The res ultin g loa ding of 50 pound sper squ are foo t was among th e highes tus ed in aircraft at th at time, and muchtechni ca l co mm ent centere d abo ut it., Actu a lly th e wi ng turned out to be o neof th e rea lly out s ta nding as pec ts of th erace r, and it's configuration was wid elycopied in the Second Wo rld Wa r'sfight ers.

Additiona lly, Matty ad d ed abo ut asqu are foo t to the eleva tor surface area,a nd compl etely out fitted th e fuse lagesru ctur e almos t from scra tch . Largerfu el tank s tha n Mr. Brow n had pla nn edon using we re included . In many re spec ts th e re nova tio n of th e Lai rdTurner Ra cer was more difficult thanbuilding a compl e tely new aircraf t.

Wh en fini shed , a weight check confirmed that Matty had eliminated over400 pound s o f we ight just from theparts Mr. Brow n had shipped him. TheLTR-14 was tes ted success full y andaccept ed by Roscoe, w ho pro ceeded toCaliforni a in it . on its second flight.In succeedin g years th e Laird-TurnerRa cer se rved to change th e fortunes of'tough-luck' Roscoe. During th e 1937Th omp son, Roscoe, who was leadingth e race, was moment a rily blinded byth e sun while rounding a py lon. Turning back to rec ircle th e pylon, he losthis lea d to Ea rl O rtm an and Rud y Kling.In a las t minute burs t of speed , Rud ydr ove the diminuti ve Folkerts racerpas t O rtma n to w in . Roscoe followedin third pla ce.

Howe ver, th e fo llowin g yea r, th eLaird-Turner, racin g as th e PESCOSPECIAL, place d first in the Th ompso n, brea kin g Micheal De troya t'sreco rd speed se t two yea rs previously.Th e 1939 National Air Races werelarge ly overshadowed by th e grim turnof eve nts takin g place in Eur ope.Roscoe, raci ng for th e las t tim e, againwon th e Thompso n, flying the Laird Turn er, w hich for the occasion hadbeco me the 'Miss Champi on'. This victory made him th e only ma n to eve r winth e cove ted Thomp so n Trop hy th reetim es . Desp ite th e credit du e Mr. Laird,Roscoe never pr ope rly recogni ze d him .Ma tty, however, never pressed th e iss ueas That's just th e way Roscoe was . . .Turner's victories , plus th ose earli erin th e deca des by the 'So lution' and'S up er So lu tion' gave th e Laird Planes;Th ree FIRST and two THIRD places inth e Thom pso n Races, one FIRST in th eBe ndi x, a trans-continental and tri Cap itol speed record , in add itio n to a tleast a doze n different inter-ci ty reco rd s .For a small civ il based aircraf t factory,the E. M. La ird Co mp any had wo n ala rge propor tina te share of th e reco rd sand races of th e thirt ies, du e to th e skillof th e em ployees an d th e ge nius ofE. M. 'Matty' La ird .As thi s cou ntr y's invo lve ment in th eWar beca me more eminent , Ma tty rea lized it was go ing to be pretty ' tou ghsledding' for a non-military manu factur e r. In an attempt to ge t sub contrac tin g wo rk on military aircra ft , aChicago fri end persuaded him to con sider se tting up an av ia tion divis ion fora manu factur er o f metal doo r trim, a tLaport , India na. Ma tty loo ked th e o peration over and elec ted to beco me Vi cePres ident of th e Co mpan y later beco min g th e Lapo rt e Co rp ora tion. ) Hebro ught w ith h im a ll hi s fac to ry machi nery , equipme nt a nd mate rials, butretained person ally a ll his airplanedes igns. Th e Laporte Corp ora tion s uccess fu lly met the cha llenges of wartimematerials shortages with a labor forceconsistin g mos tly of wo men . Alth oughuntrain ed , a nd face d w ith schedu les5


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(Photo Court esy E. M 'Mat ty' Laird)La ird-Turner on the l ine after being rebuilt by the E. M Laird AirplaneCompany. Note the fam il ia r La ird trademark on the tai l

that doubled every month they rapidlygrew into a skilled tea m un der the ableguidance of Matty. His talents in production were directed to the productionof B-24 and SB2C vertical fin s completeemp e na ge group s for Martin B-26 sand nu m erous o th er items such as wingflaps radio cabinets, crew bunks andd e- icer tanks for th e Martin PBM.

Matty never had any interest inMilitary aircraft with the possibleexcep tion of building a trainer for theArmed Services. He had lost an earlybid for a trainer in th e ird Swallowdays, when Major Reuben Fleet aprocurement officer for th e Army, ve toedth e purchase. Major Fleet la ter res ignedfrom th e Service and organi zed theConsolidated Aircraft Company, who

rece iv ed th e order for his trainingplane.The wartime production of th e La

porte Corporation was a credit to Mr.Laird s ing enuity in tra ining and muster ing every effort from his employeesduring th e critical time of hi s country sneed.At th e War s end, Matty res tudied th edesigns he had worked up for civilianairplanes before the War. One particularly appealing mo d el was a 4 placehigh wing m onoplane with a semimonocoupe aluminum fus elage an dwooden w ings. Plans were . to usea new six cy linder in verted engi ne thatContinental was deve lopin g. In consideri ng th e cap italiza tion cos ts invo lve d which had doubled since th ethirties and knowi ng first-hand, th e

(Photo Courtesy Roger Don Rae)ABOVE: Laird Turner, Pesco Special which Roscoe Turnerflew to victory in the Thompson Trophy Race in 1938.

(Photo Courtesy E. M. 'Matty ' Laird)BELOW: Matty Laird, center, surrounded by his fellow craftsmenat the Laport Corporation during WWII. The vertical fins of theB-24 behind are autographed by all members of his work force .

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boom-bust market that followed the previous War,Matty decided to retire from the aviation business.

An additional factor which prompted his decisionwas the fact that his daughter had contracted polio.At the time, the only known treatment was frequentimmersions in warm water combined with physicaltherapy . Consequently, Matty decided to move to awarmer climate, choosing Boca Raton, a small community on the lower east coast of Florida. There, heand his lovely Elsie, whom he married in 1933, devotedth emse lve s to raising their son and daughter.In later years the Lairds purchased some land inthe Lake Toxaway area of North Carolina where theybuilt a home. The lake had been a millionaires hideaway in the early 1900's until the dam supporting itburst in 1916, flooding many of the lower communities.Ironically, the lake was later re-damed after the Laird'sbuilt their home , and the high water level forcedthem to again move . Later they purchased an adjacenthome on the lake shore. Currently they spend theirsummer months enjoying this beautiful mountain lakearea, while wintering in their fifty year old Spanishstyle home in Boca .In 1967 Matty became President of the Early Birds,an International organization of pilots who made theirfirst flight before December 17, 1916. Mr. Laird alsobecame active in the Connecticut Aeronautical Historical Association's restoration of the 'Solution'beginning in 1964.

He first became acquainted with the Florida SportAviation, Antique and Classic Association at theRemuda Ranch Fly-In during November of 1974,where he was an honored guest. There too , he joinedthe EAA. In recognition of his many achievementsprior to 1940, Mr. Laird was awarded the covetedSilver Eagle Membership in the Association. Sincethen the Lairds have been very active in the EAA,being honored among the Aviation Greats at Oshkosh,1975, and appearing at many EAA functions throughout the State of Florida.

His present work on the EAA's restoration of the'Super Solution' has brought him back, full circle. . . to th e very work to which he devoted hi s lifebeginning in 1910 that of building the finest aircraft in the country.

At eighty years on November 29th, 1975, Mattyhas been described by his friends as "a Volkswagenwi th 80 horsepower ".

The Florida Association and th e Experimental Aircraft Association are very privileged to know and beable to work with people of Mr. Laird's background ,energies and character.Mr. Laird a true ge nius and pioneer of American Aviation.

The Laird Speedwing "Solution"(Prat Whitney Wasp Junior Engine)Winner 1st Place - Thompson Trophy Race -Chicago, III. Sept. 1 1930Average Speed 201.9 M.P.H. for 100 mile race(20 laps around a five mile course)Piloted by C. W. "Speed" Holman

(Photo by Robert G. Elliott)Matty and Elsie Laird enjoy their mountain re-treat on the shores of Lake Toxaway, NorthCarolina, and sat momentarily for this photo-graph in July of 1975.

Earl W. Swaney525 Saratoga Ave.Santa Clara, CA 95050The weather was perfect The airshow

was excellent Ground and flying activities were varied and interestingBut , these variables only added tothe luster The real stars were the airplanes. More than 400 of them .

Reading down the rows of prop cardswas like reading from volumes of aviation history. All the names were there :Waco, Ryan, Stinson, Stearman, TravelAir, Beech, Cessna, Great Lakes, Fleet,Kinner , Davis, Fairchild, Standard,Curtiss, Pitcairn, Piper, Taylor, Harlow , Spartan, Howard, Bucker, Meyers,Aeronca, and even Ford.

The event was the 12th annual WestCoast Antique Aircraft Fly-In and AirShow held at Watsonville, ' Californiaover the Memorial Day weekend, May28, 29 and 30.Each year the fly-in is co-sponsoredby the Northern California Chapter ofthe Antique Airplane Association andthe Watsonville Chamber of Commerce.The pilots these planes brought tothe fly-in unanimously agreed thisyear's meet was " the best yet." Theycame from all over California and fromOregon , Washington , Idaho, Nevada,Utah, Arizona, and even one fromMinnesota.

There were many full-fledged antiqueairplane buffs among the 30,000 visitorsto the show. But most of them came tosee the airshows put on each day.

Highlighting the aerobatic routineswere veteran performers such as SanFrancisco's Don Carter flying an authentic Bucker Jungmeister , JimMandley in a homebuilt Steen Skybolt,Eddie Andreini in a stock Stearman,and Amelia Reid in a Bellanca Decathlon.

Grand champion award went to JimNissen for his 1918 Curtiss IN-4"Jenny". Nissen, from Livermore, CA,retired from his position as airportmanager at San Jose Municipal Airportlast Au gust and has spent the time sinceth en res toring the Jenny . He purchasedit in 1958 after a friend found it in abarn in Oregon and told him about it.


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Virgil dair Congratulates Jim Nissen (on left).

Nissen has res to red th e Jenny to itsoriginal configuration as a trainer us edby th e Army Air Services at Love Fieldin Dallas, TX t is painted an ochre colorand has a brightly polished brass radiatorfor its OX-5 engine: The stru ts and oth erwoodwork is finished natural and highlyva rni shed . The fuselage wood was insuch good condition that Nissen wasable to use about 90 percent of it inhis res toration.

Mayor s Trophy winner, a 1929 NewStandard NT-I, Navy trainer, D-29Acivilian) is owned by George Dray ofConcord, CA. This New Standard is oneof six built for th e Navy and is believe d

to be the only one of its kind flyingtoday.Be st Homebuilt Award in the show

went to a Bede BD-4 owned by DonPhillips of San Jose, CA .76-year-old Virgil Adair flew his

Ranger-powered Ryan PT-22 fromLew iston, Idaho , and took the awardfor th e oldest pilot. Adair s originalpilot s license was signed by OrvilleWright.Robin Reid, 17, of San Jose, tookhonor s as th e youngest licensed pilot .

The varied activities for participantsincluded an Oktoberfes t party Saturday night , a lumberjack breakfast Sun

day morning, and the Awards DinnerSunday night.Of the 428 display aircraft, 86 wereantiques, 74 warbirds , 160 neo-c1assic,and 105 homebuilts . n addition about500 modern aircraft brought flyingspectators to the event.Co-chairmen for this year s fly-inwere Bob DeVries for th e Antiquersand John Payne for th e WatsonvilleChamber of Commerce.

n the flying contests, Russ Weil ofSunnyvale, CA , pulled his J-3 Cub intothe air after a run of 150 feet to takefirst place in th e short field takeoff contes t for planes under 100 hor sepower.

Watsonville Grand ChampionJim Nissen s 1918 Jenny

n the over 100-horsepower category,Richard Collins of Portola Valley, CA,coaxed his Swift off in 250 feet.

Rate of climb under 100-horsepowerwinner was Phil Garris of Reno, NV,in a Piper L-4 climbing to 200 feet in19 seconds. Over 100-horsepoweraward went to Orrin Anderson , Riverside, CA, in a Cessna 170, also 19seconds.

The Antiquers plan to use their shareof the proceeds toward establishmentof a museum to display these rare birdsand other aviation history memorabilia.


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... int gel ...'I . ', Men and Their. ... . : ~ . ~ . , . , . ~ .,.J , :-....... . ,: , . r .. . . . . ~ ~ ~1929 Travel Air NC 8719 94 Vultee BT 13A N55642 -wner: Max Robertson, Vancouver , WA Owner: Gary Giannandrea, Areada , CA' - :, - ,iZ- 1::1 "- , I i'. ' j

Travel Air 2000 NC 6130 1936 Stinson SR8B Ole Fahlin says , This prop has got to go . Jim Nissen receives the Grand Champion awardOwner: Gregg Caldwell , Vancouver, WA Owner: Ernie Fillmore, Los Gatos, CA for his Curtiss IN-4 Jenny from fly-in queenAmelia Reid .,1931 Travel Air 12K Ford Tri-Motor 1930 Stearman N788H - Owner: Ray Gail Turner added a touch of glamour to heOwner: Paul Lawrence, Battle Ground, WA Owner: Irv. Perch, Morgan Hills, CA Stephen &Gabby Hansen, Santa Clara , CA homebuilt Fly Baby. Gail took first place hor.ors in the rate of climb contest for h o m e u i l t ~

W T SIf you want to meet a group of congEjust must attend one of the WatsonvillE28th - 31 st, and came away impressedall , the comaraderie of the people , frorwho come out by the thousands to aecluded Fly-Bys, Contests, Aerobatic SThe grand finale was a beautifully organ

1934 Krider Risner 831N 1929 Davis V3 # 848H - Owner: Clyde Gail McCullough has worn out 5 engines we 're coming backOwner: John Reid, San Jose , CA Bourgeois , Santa Barbara, CA for a total of 5800 hours on her Cessna 190.


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> = - lbum I t . ~ . .tage achines -~ - : : ~ ~ . . . . . . - v 1929 Pitcairn Mail Wing Owner: Don Fairchild 24 N81386 Clause, Astoria , OR, passenger brother Owner: Claude Gray, Northridge , CATerry.

Winner of a Special Award for Golden Age First place winner in the Classic age open 1929 New Standard # 155M 1929 Student Prince N10471through Neo-classic was this Harlow PJ2C monoplane category was this Fairchild 22 Owner: Geo. Dray, Concord, CA Owner: James Turrell , Sedona , AZowned by Mel Heflinger of Redondo Beach , CA. I owned by Kal Irwin of Pasadena, CA

Vew Standard D-25A , 5-place open cockpit ' Second place winner in the Golden A g ~ John Reid, who was the official announcer Ruth Spencer's Baby Stearman _)wned by Irv Perch of Morgan Hill, CA. The open biplane category was this Fleet 7 and did an admirable job . parked beside hubby's big job.=Iying Lady , is for Irv 's wife Jan who is the owned by R. Von Willer of Spring Valley , Qlying member of the family . CA.

~ V I L L Ehard working flying enthusiasts youifornia Fly-Ins. e did just that on Maythe airplanes ,the weather, and most ofparticipants to the enthus iastic publicthe beautiful airplanes . The activity in , and even a lumberjack breakfast .\wards Banquet . Keep the sun shining - 1935 Fairchild C8C won a special award 1926 Travel Air J4 NC3945 Owners: Ray Driggs Skylark NC64K

for the Golden through Neo-classic ages . & Larry Stephen , San Jose , CA Owner: Don Burkhart, Orangevale, CA(Lois Kelch , Asst. Editor) It is owned by D. Cullum and GeorgePearson of Vallejo, CA


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The Gates Flying Circus had five aircraft carrying passengers at Pough-kepsie Airport. The airport was nothingbut a cow pasture with a stone fence atone end and some trees to the right ofus. Saturday was a very successful day- all five aircraft were busy all afternoon. They carried something like 200passengers. We stopped our operationsjust before dark and checked in one ofthe best hotels in Poughkepsie. Wewere all tired and dirty, but quite rich.All of the pilots opera ted on a 20% basisand we were making anywhere between$75.00 to $100.00 a day. The followingday, Sunday, we all got out to the airportabout 9:00. Our sta nd ard procedurewas go up and do a little stunti ng andlooping on th e ou tsk irt s of the city everymorning. (I had forgotten that after theprevious day - all the step ladders andstunt parapherna lia was stored in myship.) 1 took off with my parachutejumper in the front sea t and climbed upto 3000 ft. and commenced looping.

We of the Gates Flying Circus wereusing Hisso Standards modified totake 4 passengers in the front cockpit.All Standards were powered by 150 to180 engines. While looping 1 had ap-parently drifted over the cen ter ofthe city. On one of my final loops Ihung the airplane in an upside downposition and stalled it. Things began tofall out of the cockpit including myparachute jumper, who desperatelyhung onto a couple of struts. 1 sawbundles of tools, our step ladder andother things leaving the cockpit. Afterthe flight was over, I landed and pro-ceeded carrying passengers as thoughnothing happened. A couple of hourslater, a couple of men appeared on thefield carrying a bundle under theirarms. They asked to see the managerof the Flying Circus - he was Clyde

LEFT: Joseph R. James and MarionWells Gates Flying ircus at Green-field Mass. 1927.

Pangborn' our Chief Pilot. The men inquired if the bundle belonged to one ofus pilots. Clyde Pangborn acknowledgedthat this was our folding step ladderused for stunt flying. Pangborn ap-proached me and asked if 1 had thesethings in my ship. 1 admitted seeingthings fall out of my plane while in aloop in an inverted position. The twomen informed us that this particularpackage crashed through the OrpheumTheatre ceiling and landed about 20feet from the orchestra. The Orchestrawas rehearsing and were astoundedby the crash and all the glass fallingon top of them. They threatened tosue the Circus but Pang somehowreimbursed them and sent them backto town. 1 was fined $25.00 for this in-cident bu t on this same night, I recoveredmore than the $25.00 in a poker game.This was not a very happy incident forme.

After a weekend at Troy, New Yorkwe proceeded with seven ships to Pittsfield, Mass. The wh o le town was plastered with great big placards GatesFlying Circus - the World's Best Pilots .Our advance man had made a deal withthe local newspaper - he was to pro-vide us with about 50 papers that wewere to drop off close to the field. Who-ever picked up a paper with a lucky ticket in it went for a free ride in one of ourships.We started flying early in th e morningabout 9:00. The more we flew, the morepassengers came ou t, to line up for rides.Mac McKay was flying a Curtis R a threecockpit job powered by 450 hp 12 cylinderLiber ty engine. We were using straigh tcommercial gas as supplied by TexacoCompany. Mac's Curtis R was bouncingover th e bumps for take-off and belchingblack smoke out of both sides. Mac wasleaning out one side to see where hewas going and getting his face full ofthe black soot. That day Mac said theblacker I am the richer I am which wasvery true.We kept flying without hardly a stop- the more passengers we carried, the

Lee Mason With Gates Flying ircus1927more came. $3.00 and $5.00 passengers

were shoved into the same airpla neand had the same kind of ride. The average ride was about a minute and a halflong. At 3:00 in the afternoon, five planeswere down with some trouble or other.There we re only 2 ships left. At 8:30p.m. it was getting dark - we quit flying and there were still a number ofpassengers in the corral. The boss saidJoe why don't you tak e one more load?Reluctantly I took off with 4 people.On the way back 1 could hardly see thefield. I took my glasses off and unfor-tunately a bumble bee hit me in one eye.1 made a blind landing from abo ut 50',overshot the field and knocked off acouple of headlights of a nearby car withmy wing tip. t was a rather sad endingto my record passenger carryin g day.I broke the record for the year - carried$700 .00 worth of passengers in oneship in one day. On the other hand, thenext day 1 spen t repairing my wing tip,wondering if I cou ld catch up wi th therest of the circus.

This is another incident of the GatesFlying Circus the same au tumn of1927. The Gates Flying Circus had fouraircraft at Troy, New York airport. twas a successful 3 day stand. We carriedsomething like 500 passengers th e 3day s. Monday morning we were ge ttingready to leave for Pittsfield, Mass.Things were kind of dull.A pilot, who I was instrumental ingetting to join Gates Flying Circus byth e name of Ray Ahern, approachedme and made a deal. He said Joe,you see that little flag on top of the tentwhere all our supplies are stor ed andwhere our manager, was still asleep.1 said Yes 1 see the flag . He said ''I'llbet you $25.00 that you can't knock thatflag down in two at tempts . I said You're on . I took off and circledthe airport and dove for th e flag, attempting to knock it off with the landing gear.My first pass was unsuccessful and Imade a second attempt, which was alsounsuccessful. The third pass 1 reallyhad to do it. 1 took half of the mast and

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Johnnie Runger, Parachute JumperGATES FLYING CIRCUS, 1927the flag leaving only a shred sticking outon top of the tent. Ahern, in the mean-time made another proposition . "Jo e,I'll bet you $25.00 I can knock the res tof that flag in three attempts . Naturally,I agreed. Ahern , in his second attemptknocked down th e balance of th e fla g.In the meantime , with all thi s noi segoing on , we woke up th e ma nag er,who rushed out of th e tent and wasshaking his fist up at th e sky while wewere diving at his tent.

Here is another incident with GatesFlying Circus in September 1927. Fiveof our ships descended on Ithica, NewYork . Our eld was a narrow s trip be-tw ee n ta ll trees on both sides and ono ne end was one of the Finger Lakes.As ususal we had the field coveredwith pa ying pa ssenge rs, who werewaiting to get a chance to ge t in the air.Our normal load was four passengersin front ju st behind the 150 Hispanaengine J1 s tand ard. I complained toClyde th at my ship was somewhat

out of rig and I couldn't ma ke th eturn to the left as was our pattern.He sa id Joe, go ahead and take onlytwo passengers a nd see if you canmake it. I agreed to that.I took off with two passengers,climbed up to about 500 ft., started myturn and found out th e lef t wing wass till real heavy , a nd I had to use allopp os ite rudder in ord er to keep it fromturning to th e left. I was skidding a llover th e place and was los ing altitude.I realized I co uldn't make th e fielda nd I had to co me down at right a nglesto th e strip. I picked tw o of th e bushiesttre es a nd pu t the nose of th e Standardright in between th em. All four wingscrumpled and we were suspe nd edabou t 2 ' in the air. I climbed out ofth e fuselage and helped the passengersdown out of th e trees. I re turned th etickets to the two ge n tlemen a nd toldth em to go a head and take th eir ridewith one of the other planes. Theyagreed.

I told th e passengers that one of mywings was too heavy and I los t controlof th e ship. Th e next morning th enewspapers in Ithica had a headline"Two engineers escap e dea th in adisabled airplane . The reporter mis-interrupted my statement on th e fieldand sa id the pilot admitted that heflew off the wing (?) The passenge rshappened to be tw o eng inee rin g pro-fessor s at Cornell College.

It was miraculou s that th e fu se lagedidn ' t ha ve a crack and new wings wereshipped in from H ackensac k . The fuse-lage was haul ed down , th e new se tof wings ~ t c h e d and new propellerin s talled and th e aircraft continued tobarnstorm its way dow n to Florida.Thi s in cident finished me w ith GatesFlying Circus. The crates were ge ttingout of rig and were show ing signs oflack of maintenance. I collected whatwas coming m e from Irwin Gates andre turned to Hackensack , NJ . It wasamazing that in this incident neith erthe passengers or myself eve n go t ascratch. I told my pa sse ngers how safeit was to crash an airplane be twee n th etrees.

TREASUREHUNT

Many old timers like JosephR James have interesting ma-terial hid away in dresserdrawers. t is fun finding itand bringing it back to life.HAVE AT IT.

, :'

; :;:. MENEFEEThe article on the followingpage is printed as a posthumoustribute to Bill Menefee, who waskilled, along with the owners of afour place airplane that crashedJuly 24, 1976 at Fredricksburg, VAThis article had been written .andsubmitted prior to the accident. Bill. Menefee was a pilot for United Airlines:.: and he was active in the " Potomac An-tique Aero Squadron", EAA and AAA.His many friends will miss him as will

:: the numbers that saw him fly at theYING CIRCUS AERODROME at Beal-ton, Virginia. Bill was an accomplishedpilot and a dedicated antiquer.

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(Photo Lou Davis)KCA Balloon Festival. Bill Menefee sWW I Replica Sopwith Pup in fore-roun .

This Sopwith Pu p , a replica of Britian 's World War Ifig ht er was built by Bill Petrone , a professo r atth e Uni versity of Iowa. It too k nea rly seven 7) yearsto comp le te and was built from or igi nal Sopwithplans. The Pup loo ks eve ry bit th e original , th e onlyexcepti on being th a t it does not carry an actu al factoryse rial number.Th e p ro to type Sopw ith Pup app ea red in France in

Ma y of 1916 with th e Roya l Naval Air Se rvice andshortly th erea fter, with th e Roya l Flying Corps . Itwas in tend ed to be a high altitude fighter and wasmo re th an a ma tch against th e German Albatross Vll1at 16,000 ft. The aircra ft remained in se rvice thru th esum mer and a utumn of 1917. The So pw ith was alsoth e pioneer aircraft to be base d on a n aircraft carrier .

By E. A. Rick Roki cki365 Ma e Rd .G le n Burnie, MD 210611820 EAA Anti que/Classic DivisionIn this case, th e whee ls we re removed and skid s were

installed. Later, th e Pup we nt back to England whereit was use d success full y as a defense against th e giantGo tha bombers . The Zepplin too was a favorite targe tof the Sopwith Pu p . There's no denying it was a grea tai rplane in its day.Bill Menefee, a United Airlines Ca ptain (DC-8) ,bought th e Pup immedi a tely a fter completion in Octo-be r of 1973. t was purcha se d prima rily beca use of hisinv olvement in the FLYING CIRCUS activity at Bealton, Virginia . The original aircraft was built witheith er th e 80 hp Clerge t or th e 80 hp Gnome. Latermodels had the 100 hp G nome . Bill 's Pup ha s a more

mod ern engin e, that is, if you can call a 40 yea r oldengine modern . The 125 hp Warner radial thatpowers the Sopwith remains th e favo rite of WWIbuilders beca use of its sma ller diameter and relativelylow weight. The torq ue values of the original rotar yengin es and th a t of the Warner are quite comp arabl e.Futher, th e gross we ight of th e replica Pup is within100 lbs. of th e original. Additional devia tions fromth e or iginal were made as a res ult of flight tes tin g. Therudder ba r, tail skid and lack of brakes, necess ita tedso me changes . The rudder bar wa s replace d by themore sta ndard pedals. The tail skid had to go for obvious reasons and was replaced by a small tail wheel.The addition of cable opera ted brakes was the lastbig change.

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Photo by Lou Davis)Bill Menefee doing his thing for the FL YING CIRCUS atBealton, Virginia , in his world War I Fighter Sop with Pup) .

Taxi tes ts s tarted out as fa s t taxi, th en ta il lift th enoff the deck for a few fe et and back again . Th e maidenflight wa s attemp ted a fter th e 4th such tes t. Accordingto Bill , th e Pup lea ped into th e air with less th an a 200'run in ve ry light w ind. t felt a littl e ta il heavy a ndneeded right rudder corr ec tion th ro ugh out th e fli ghtto comp ensa te for ail eron drag. Eleva tor press ur essee med light in comparison to a ilero n fee l. Furthertes ting showed th e aircra ft to be qui te maneuvreable and it sid e-slips bea u tifully. Bill Menefee saysth e slip is a ve ry necessa ry thing in th e Pup , sin ce th eaircra ft is quite blind in a head on app roac h . Th e rudd eris effec tive to th e degree th a t pr oper a ileron input isextremely important, o th erwi se th e machine s implywill no t turn. Wha t happens in such an un coo rdina tedturn is that the win g will drop in th e dir ec tion of th eturn but th e no se will yaw in th e o th er direc tion. The

Pup will jus t hang th ere a nd se t u p a shudde r. Thefirst landing was a bit of an expe ri e nce since th e close- coupl ed des ig n makes it a prime candidate forground loo ps. However, a grassy touch dow n andabout 150' la te r it ca me to a s to p . Pre para tio ns for th eflight ho me we re s ta rted im media te ly.Be fore se tting out from Am es, Iowa, Bill wo rk edout a bu ngee cord arrange ment on th e cont ro l s tickto comp ensa te for th e slight ta il-h eav in ess and rig htrudder correction . t has bee n so successful tha t itremains in use with out cha nge. Th e flight from Am esto Bea lton included five 5) s tops a nd a to tal o f 12flying hour s . The airspeed indica tor was suspectedof rea di ng low sin ce th e aircraft wo uld s low flyat 38 to 40 mph before it wo uld stall out. Th e secondday out of Columbus, Ohio, whil e o n a cour se forFa irm o un t , Bill smelled gasolin e. A considerable loss

sh ow ed on th e quantity gatl ge, a nd w hile th e repli caPup had a 30 ga llon ta nk (th e origin al had o nly 20), itwas obv ious he wo ul d have to se t it dow n befo relo ng. Cla rksbur g, Wes t Virgin ia was th e place, hedecided since th ere were main tenance facilities th ere.He climbed to 6,000' a nd bega n a slow sp iral dow n .The new tower was not ye t ac tiva ted, but so meo nesaw h im a nd gave him a green light to la nd. Win dswe re 25 to 30 mph with gusts . Rememb er ing th a t th ebrakes we re no t th e bes t eve n un der id eal conditions,Bill decide d to lin e up on th e ru nway and take a ligh tcrosswind. Just a ft er touch-d ow n, a severe gus t tossedth e So p with Pup bac k in to the sky like a lea f. Powero n for a go -a round a quick loo k at th e fu el qu a ntityshowed th e tank to be emp ty. On th e d ownwind leg,he decided to land o n a g rassy area betw een th e runwayand taxi s trip . The landing roll wa s less than 40 fee t.It didn't tak e lon g to rapidly reach the conclu sion thatcross wind landings with this machine would lea d tothe in evitable ground loop.In spec tion of th e gas tank showed that the tin hada seam crack and it didn ' t take mu ch to solder it upand ge t back into th e air. H elp ed along by a good tailwind , he made th e FLYING CIRCUS AERODROMEin just un der two (2) hour s .So me in teres tin g notes on the Pu p . t cruiseseasily at 80 mp h . At an indica ted air spee d of 125 mp h ,one of the wir es s tarts to s ing . When thi s happens,he will back off on th e throttle and se t up his airsp eed just un der th e audible wa rning. Bill intends tokeep it th a t way . Wh en first fe eling out th e aeroba ticability o f th e airplane , he found out that it did notslow-roll we ll at all. Aileron dr ag slows up the Pupwh en inverted and it becomes necessary to ge t th eno se down qui ckly to ge t enough airspee d to co mple teth e ro ll-out. Th ere is no inv erted fu el or oil systeminsta lled and th e engine w ill cut o ut if le ft up sidedown too long. In addition to that , th e a irfo il is no tat a ll suit ed to that kind of l ying . It rolls to th e le ftbeautifully, but not too we ll to th e right , a lthoug h itis accomplished as pa rt of th e ae rial patte rn he does .A short loo p a nd Cu ba n 8's are a pa rt of th e ro utine.On landing, th e Pup fee ls fairly s tabl e th rougho utth e fla re and w ill se t up a light shudd er just be foreth e th ree -po int s tall. To quo te Bill Menefee a t th attim e, if th e ground is in th e right place, yo u ' ll have apre tty dece nt la ndin g .

At thi s w ritin g, th ere are six (6) know n So p withPups in flying condition . On e is in Ca nada, a no th erin Rh einbeck, NY and anoth er on th e wes t coas t.Th ese are rep licas ju st as N4781 T. Th e rema iningtw o are in th e Shuttlewo rth Co llectio n in Englandand are th e only rema ining originals.15


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OTROUT

One of the Southern CaliforniaNinety-Nines charter members whohelped call attention to women inflying circles was Bobbi Trout who tookthe lead in promoting the Golden Eagleaircraft by chalking up a number ofimpressive record flights. She learnedto fly in early 1928 and then became afactory demonstrator pilot for GoldenEagle. She acquired Transport license2613, the fifth woman in the USA to doso, and was probably the Country's firstwoman test pilot.Miss Trou t flew one of the earlyGolden Eagles at the dedication of theLos Angeles Metropolian Airport atVan Nuys, December 16, 1928. Whilethe endurance flight of the Army AirCorps' Fokker Question Mark wasunderway, Bobbi tookoff for her firstnon-refueling endurance attempt fromVan Nuys Airport. Using a LeBlond 60hp Golden Eagle, she remained aloft12 hrs. 11 min., Jan. 2 1929. Using thesame plane and flying from Mines Field(now Los Angeles International), sheboosted the women's non-refueling record even higher Feb. 10-11 with a flightof 17 hrs. 5 min. While setting this record she made the first all-night solo flightby an aviatrix.1929 continued to be a stellar year forBobbi Trout. She flew a 90 hp GoldenEagle to 15,200 , a new women's altituderecord for that particular category. Inlatter summer she entered the GoldenEagle, 90 hp Kinner, R223M, in the FirstWomen's Air Derby from Santa Monica

to Cleveland, Aug. 18-26. Although aforced landing near Yuma put her outof the competition, she managed tofly the course and finish at Clevelanda few hours after the winning o n t e s ~tants.Later in the year, with Elinor Smith(License 3178), Bobbi established thefirst in-air refueling endurance recordfor women. Together they logged 42 hrs.5 min., using a Commercial Sunbeamaircraft powered with a Whirlwind 300,over Los Angeles, November 27-29. Therefueling ship engine gave out, forcingthe fliers to land.This record was upped considerablyby Bobbi and Edna May Cooper (License 13310), Jan. 4-9, 1931. Flying aChallenger Curtiss Robin, Lady Rolph ,NR749M, they remained airborne 122hrs. 50 min., again over Los Angeles.The flight ended after the engine wentbad.

There were plans afoot for Bobbi toattempt a Trans-Pacific flight fromHawaii to the Mainland the summerof 31 in a Lockheed Sirius, howeverthe flight did not materialize forlack of backing. However, she subsequently piloted one of the threeWomen's Air Reserve Stearmans on atrans-continental junket, along withPancho Barnes and Mary Charles. Sheparticipated in local air shows withGladys O'Donnell, Margaret PerryCooper, Clema Granger, Aline Millerand Yolanda Spirito, among others.Bobbi Trout has always had the ingenuity to meet her goals, working hard forher accomplishments. To supplementher earnings in the early days, she ownedand operated a service station. Prior toWWII she hit upon the idea of salvagingthe discarded rivets from the variousaircraft manufacturers, sorting andreadying them for use again.

Currently and since 1960, she has beenin real estate in the California desert atPalm Springs. She still finds time to dosome inventing, prospecting, cycling,hiking and touring in her beautiful mobile home - and occasionally she willreflect fondly on the flying years.

Suited up for high altitude flight, Bobbi poses with oneof the Golden Eagles.

Elinor Smith and Bobbi Trout with the CommercialSunbeam in which they set the first women s in-airrefueling record November 1929.

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WHISTLIN IN THE RI INByTom Poberezny

The 1976 EAA Convention is now his tor y. Thisyear's event was the mos t successful one yet for manyreasons:

Attendance was th e larges t in th e 24 year his toryof th e EAA Convention.Volunteers turned out in record numbers toassist with th e num ero us tasks associated withth e operation of the world's larges t aviationeve nt.Th e quality of res toration and co nstructio nagain improved.I could list numerous other factors, but th e pointis that by far th e majority of th ose attending and par-

ticipating came away happ y and proud of their organi-za tion.I want to tak e this opportunity to commend ev eryOfficer, Chairman and Volunteer and anyone elseassociated with th e AntiquelClassic Di vision opera tionof th e 19 76 EAA Co nventi on. The orga ni za tion anddedica tion of all who worked so hard was reflec tedin th e smoo th operation of your ac tivities th roug h-ou t t he week.

The size a nd scope of th e EAA Convention con-tinu es to g row by lea ps and bounds. With thi s grow thcomes th e associated problems encoun tered in th ehandling of traffic, parkin g aircraft , security, judging,etc. Ha ving worked with yo ur officers, director s and

chairm en throughout th e past yea r, I ca n attest to thehard work and d edica tio n th ey put forth. The Board ofDirectors of th e Experimental Aircraft Associa tionexpr essed praise th ro ughout th e Co nv enti on for th eopera tion of th e AntiquelClass ic activities.One of th e highlights of th e 1976 Convention wasth e History of Flight . Where else could an aviationenthu sias t go a nd see so many examp les of th e ai r-craft that have shape d our av iation he ritage. Beca useof un coo perative weather conditions, th e 1908 Jun eBu g was un able to par ticipa te in this pr og ra m. Butth ose who were abl e to s tay through Sa turday wereable to see thi s ra re bird ta ke to th e air that evening.

This yea r a grea t d eal of work went in to s trea m-lining and improv ing th e overall aw a rd s program forth e Convention. The judging meth ods in eac h cate-go ry (custom, antique, class ic and warbird) under-we nt grea t chan ge, tryin g to bring in as mu ch obj ec tivityas poss ible. The awards pr og ra m pu ts one be tw eena rock and a ha rd place . Th ere a re so many o uts tandingaircraft and individuals, that th ere are not enoughawards for all who dese rve th em . To eliminate th eawards p rog ram would be wrong. To expand it wou lddilute its quality. Much was lea rn ed and I am sureth a t next year's sys tem and criteria will be much im-proved aga in .A special word o f recog nition should go to Direc torAl Kelch for th e work he did in deve loping and build-ing thi s year 's aw a rd s. The top trophies pr esentedfea tured a bea utiful bust of Charles Lindbergh. Man yof the plaqu es had a re lief of Speed Holman, completewith helmet and gogg les . The purpose of th ese newawards is to recognize EAA'ers wi th a troph y that cano nly be earned at yo ur na tional conven tion . t cannotbe purchase d anywhere. It is something th a t all willbe proud to di splay in th eir hom es and carry greatmeaning.

It was my pleasur e to talk with many na tional, stateand loca l governm ent official s, co ngress me n, andmedia perso nn el Man y had attend ed be fore foroth ers, it was th eir firs t vis it. t was in teres tin g tolis ten to th eir reactions and see how th ey marveledat th e Convention's size, scope and high standards ofcondu ct and cl ea nliness.As I told each on e of th em, th e aircraft on di spla ymay be th e s tar s o f the show, but th e real s tor y is th epeo ple . Wh en you look at th e enthus ia sm and hardwork that went in to making a n eve nt as la rge as yourConvention so success ful and consider th a t th e ma-jority of th e work is do ne by voluntee rs, it mak es th eEAA story that much more amazing.

I k n ow th at th e vast majority of th e peo ple attend-ing Oshkosh 76 th oroughly enj oye d th ems elves. Forth e few th at may have felt th a t th ey were not trea tedpr ope rly, please un ders tand that your fellow memb ersspent 12 to 14 hours per da y (using th eir vacations) tomake thi s eve nt possible. Everyone is doin g the besthum anly possible. Un fo rtunately, tho se who shouldbe rea ding thi s never will beca use th ey are not members.

EDITOR S NOTEDue to the heavy load on everyone at Con-vention time, this month 's issue and probablythe next, will be slightly late. Bear with us andwe will get back on schedule soon .The November issue will be dedicated to

Oshkosh and the Greater 1976 EAA Convention.I invite anyone having interesting pictures andstories to contribute DO SO IMMEDIATELYI cannot promise that al l wil l appear inprint, those that have interesting copy and repro-ducible photographs will be given all considera-I invite anyone having interesting pictures andtion. It is your magazine and I will continue tomake it reflect the likes of the membership. It isup to you to keep me informed of those likes .Stories about adventures going and comingfrom the Convention , camp ground activities ,interesting anecdotes that took place at the Con-vention , and things with just plain old humaninterest . Remember that the magazine is not aclassified column , and stick to things that con-tribute to the pleasure of the membership.Let's have fun in our unique hobby and nottake even ourselves too seriously.The Convention was a smashing success -THANKS T ALL OUR MEMBERS, and par-ticularly those who worked for the enjoymentof THE TOTAL MEMBERSHIP.

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N TION L ERCOUPEFly-In

Tahlequah OklahomaMay 29,30,31, 1976y Kelly VietsR.R. 1

Stillwell, KAYes , the y ar e a special breed . The se people wholove and fly th e little two place, twin tailed beau ty.Th es e are th e solid citizen s of sport aviation who love

flying for flying s sa ke. No aeroba tics needed to showoff what heros th ey are. Therefo re th ey fly th e sa fes to f aircraft . Th e plane tha t made his tory as th e lea derof the modern , advanced planes , th e tri-cycl ed gea rErcoup e.Thi s wa s th e second a nnual Fly-In hea ded up byDub Hall o f Tulsa, Okl ahoma. H e, with Alve rn a Williamsof G rand Prairie, Texas as Co-Ch airma n, and th eirnumerou s helpers who wro te hundreds of letters toall Ercoupe own ers, backed by Skip Card en and CoupeCapers did a fantas tic job . Edn a and myse lf and th eIntern a tional Ercoup e Association helping th em fro mth e side lin es.By Fl y-In time th ey had 240 pre-regis te red planes .If th e we ather Eas t of th e Mis siss ippi had cooperat edth e 240 numbe r sur ely wo uld have bee n reac hed andpasse d . With thund er storm s predicted and in action,with tornados in Oklahoma and rains th a t turned in tofloods in Tulsa, ju st 50 miles aw ay, th ere we re still140 planes th a t mad e it .

Forty-two Stat es were repr ese nted . Keith Whitingflew in fro m as far away as Alas ka , 35 ying hour s.LaRoy Wri ght a nd his w ife Eileen arrived from Oregon,six planes flew in from Californi a. There we re thr eeErcoup es that cam e in from Florida . One coupl e from

Calendarof Events

The California group - front row :Dave Kenney, Wayne Olson , JoeFigueras and Jack Owens.

thi s group was Mr. Mrs. Fred E. Weick, th e des ignerof th e Ercoup e. The plane th ey used was a borrowed1946 41 5C Ercoup e and I mi ght add th at although he is77 he still handl es th e airp lane bea uti fully (j ust asth o he made iL)Even th ough th e wea th er was bad or thr ea ten ingall th e tim e we we re th ere; th e usual Fly- In contes tswe re held . Ma ny trophies and p ri zes we re given bu tmos tl y th ere were fri end ships made or renewed andlots of loo kin g and hangar ying.With the assembl y of a ll th ese Ercou pes, one wasabl e to see them from th e met iculously ma intainedfactory original to th e exce llent modified ve rsio ns.Row a fter row we re lined up - each an exa mpleshow ing to a ll w hat pride of ownershi p ca n mea n .Frankl y, we be lieve thi s is th e way to achieve themu ch search ed fo r, but neve r achieved goa l o f safe tyin flying. No Governm ent regulations, no doctrinesor thr ea ts can achieve one- tent h th e exce llance jus ta sma ll amoun t of pride can . THAT is wha t we sawth ere - pride of ow nership. t is a sha me tha t morepeo ple could no t have seen thi s eve nt. You wouldhave hear d th e wo rds of pra ise an d adm iration thatth e Ercoupe ow ners continua lly hear fro m th e publ ic .Everyo ne w ho was there this yea r plu s a ll the otherswho cou ldn ' t make it are already mak ing plans to beabl e to attend next year. Look for a continued interes tand grow th of thi s Fly- In n ext yea r.

AUGUST 29 - SEPTEMBER 6 - BL AKESBURG, IOWA - 6th Annu alInvitational AAA-APM Fly-In.AUGUST 30 - SEPTEMBER 3 - FOND DU LAC. WI SCONSIN - 11thAnnual EAA-IAC Int erna ti onal Aerobatic Champions hips. Sponsored by Intern ati onal Aerobatic Club.SEPTEMBER 10-12 - GALES BURG, ILLI NOIS - 5th Na tional Stear

man Fly-In . Contact Jim Leahy, 445 N. Whitesboro, Galesburg,IL 61401, or Tom Lowe, 823 Kingston Lane, Crystal La ke, IL 60014.

Rows and Rows of Ercoupes .

Dr . Joe McCawley and Sharon talk-ing with Fred Weick, flew wing togetherfrom Florida.

SEPTEMBER 17-19 - GEORGETOWN, SOUTH CAROL IN A - S ec ondAnnual Spi rit of '76 Fly-In at Georgetown Count y Airport, SouthCarolina . Sponsored by Chap ter 543 Antique/Classics, Warbird sand Homebuilts. For info rma tion con tact Herb Bailey, P. O. Box619, Georgetown, SC 29440. (803) 546-2525 days, (803) 546-3357nigh ts and weekends .

WANTED - Stinson Relia nt SR 5 or SR (straight wing). Willpay good money for a rebu ildable wi th all pa rt present. Tom Rench,1601 Circlewood, Racine, WI.

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vintage airplane - aug 1976

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