VA-Vol-21-No-2-Feb-1993

EDITORIAL STAFF Publisher

Tom Poberezny

February 1993 Vol 21 No2

Vice-President Marketing and Communications

Dick Matt

Editor-in-Chief Jack Cox

Editor Henry G Frautschy

Managing Editor Golda Cox

Art Director Mike Drucks

Computer Graphic Specialists Olivia L Phillip

Sara Hansen Jennifer Larsen

Advertising Mary Jones

Associate Editor Norm Petersen

Feature Writers George Hardie Jr Dennis Parks

Staff Photographers Jim Koepnick Mike Steineke

Carl Schuppel Donna Bushman

Editorial Assistant Isabelle Wiske

EM ANTIQUECLASSIC DIVISION INC OFFICERS

President Vice-President Espie Butch Joyce Arthur Morgan

604 Highway St 3744 North 51st Blvd Madison NC 27025 Milwaukee WI 53216

919427-0216 414442-3631

Secretory Treasurer Steven C Nesse EE Suck Hilbert

2009 Highland Ave PO Box 424 Albert Lea MN 56007 Union IL 60180

507373-1674 815923-4591

DIRECTORS John Berendf Robert C Sob Brauer

7645 Echo Point Rd 9345 S Hoyne Cannon Falls MN 55009 Chicago IL 60620

507263-2414 312779-2105 Gene Chase John S Copeland

2159 Carlton Rd 28-3 Williamsburg Ct Oshkosh WI 54904 Shrewsbury MA 01545

414231-5002 508842-7867 Phil Coulson George Daubner

28415 Springbrook Dr 2448 Lough Lane Lawton MI 49065 Hartford WI 53027

616624-6490 414673-5885

Charles Harris Stan Gomoll 3933 South Peoria 1042 90th Lane NE PO Box 904038 Minneapolis MN 55434 Tulsa OK 74105 612784-1172918742-7311

Dale A Gusfafson Jeannie Hill 7724 Shady Hill Dr PO Box 328

Indianapolis IN 46278 Harvard IL 6OJ33 317293-4430 815943-7205

Robert Lickteig Robert D Sob Lumley 1708 Bay Oaks Dr 1265 Scuth 124th St

Albert Lea MN 56007 Brookfield WI 53005 507373-2922 414782-2633

Gene Morris George York 115C Steve Court RR 2 181 Sloboda Av

Roanoke TX 76262 Mansfield OH 44906 817491-9110 419529-4378

S_H_ Wes Schmid 2359 Lefeber Avenue Wauwatosa WI 53213

414771-1545

DIRECTOR EMERITUS SJ Willman

7200 SE 85th Lane Ocala FL 32672

904245-7768

ADVISORS Jimmy Rollison

823 Carrion Circle Winters CA 95694-1665

916795-4334

Dean Richardson Geoff Robison 6701 Colony Dr 1521 E MacGregor Dr

Madison WI 53717 New Haven IN 46774 608833-1291 219493-4724

CONTENTS 1 Straight amp Level

Espie Butch Joyce

2 AlC News compiled by HG Frautschy

4 AeroMail

5 The First FlightSue Islas

7 Woodgrain on Metal Yes H G Frautschy

10 BOTTOMS to Oshkosh Ron Bailey

13 WidgeonlHG Frautschy

19 Super Cruiser Rebuild Norm Petersen

21 What Our Members Are Restoring Norm Petersen

23 Mystery PlaneGeorge H ardie

24 Pass it to Buck E E Buck Hilbert

27 Welcome New Members

28 Calendar

29 Vintage Trader

Page 7

Page 13

Page 23

FRONT COVER John and Linda Schwamms Grumman Widgeon is caught just as it touches down on Lake Winnebago during EAA OSHKOSH 92 by EAA photographer Carl Schuppel The Widgeon was

t~=] selected Runner-up Customized Antique at the annual EAA Fly-In Shot with a Canon EOS-1 equipped with an BO-200mm lens 1500 f56 on Kodachrome 64 Cessna 210 photo plane flown by Bruce Moore

BACK COVER Movie Planes Over West LA by artist Frank L Warren depicts a fictional formation of early Hollywood greats For more on this fun painting see the description in AlC News starting on page 2

Copyright copy 1993 by the EAA AntiqueClassic Division Inc All rights reserved VINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EM AntiqueClassic Division Inc of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EM Aviation Center 3000 Poberezny Rd PO Box 3086 Oshkosh Wisconsin 54903-3086 Second Class Postage paid at Oshkosh Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices The membership rate for EM AntiqueClassic Division Inc is $2000 for current EM members for 12 month period of which $1200 is for the publication of VINTAGE AIRPLANE Membership is open to all who are interested in aviation POSTMASTER Send address changes to EM AntiqueClassic Division Inc PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES - Please allow at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail ADVERTISING - AntiqueClassic Division does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the advertising We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken EDITORIAL POLICY Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with the contributor No renumeration is made Material should be sent to Editor VINTAGE AIRPLANE PO Box 3086 Oshkosh WI 54903-3086 Phone 414426-4800

The words EAA ULTRALIGHT FLY WITH THE FIRST TEAM SPORT AVIATION and the logos of EAA EAA INTERNATIONAL CONVENTION EAA ANTIQUECLASSIC DIVISION INTERNATIONAL AEROBATIC CLUBS WARBIRDS OF AMERICA are reg registered trademarks THE EM SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION and EAA ULTRALIGHT CONVENTION are trademarks of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above association is strictly prohibited

by Espie Butch Joyce A number of excellent publications

have come my way recently and Id like to share my impressions of a few of them

First I received a book from William Thompson who served both as an engishyneering test pilot and manager of the flight test and aerodynamics at the Pawnee Division of Cessna for 28 years His book entitled Cessna Wings For The World is an excellent documentary of the different aircraft that Cessna proshyduced with each aircrafts own developshyment story technical information phoshytographs and performance figures It is available from Thompson Aero Products of Sun River OR phone 800237-0140 The book retails for $20 softbound $30 hardbound

Two more outstanding publications I have been sent copies of are WW I Aero and Skyways both quarterly journals published by Leonard E Opdycke WW I Aero concerns the time period prior to and during the Great War Skyways covers the time period from 1920 until 1940 The Golden Age of Aviation Both are excellent reading for someone interested in aircraft of that time (Ill second that - HGF) and contain a wealth of historical and technical information on these eras

In the March issue there will be an apshyplication blank or petition form to nomishynate an individual to be considered for the AntiqueClassic Hall of Fame This Hall of Fame has been established by your Division to recognize individuals who have contributed to the antique classhysic and contemporary movement with their contributions occurring during the years 1950 until the present A committee has been established to review these petishytions which will be during this coming May The applications must be returned and in our hands no later than the of 30th of April The person or persons will be selected between May and the EAA Oshkosh Convention They will be in-

STRAIGHT ampLEVEL

sta lled in the AntiqueClassic Hall of Fame during the October Board of Direcshytors meeting held in Oshkosh Wisconsin

T he Ha ll of Fame inductees travel and lodging will be paid They ll be recshyognized at our Friday night dinner at the Museum and subsequently wi ll be inshystalled in the Museum ga llery with their image on a metall ized photograph for evshyeryone to see in the future This is a very prestigious honor and we will treat it as such This is another service that your AntiqueClassic Division has established to make people more aware of the imporshytance of the era of aircraft in which we have an interest Please give this nomishynation a lot of thought and if there is someone whom you think is deserving of this nomination please do not hesitate to do so The more nominees that we have the more prestigious this honor will be

I would like to note that our membershyship now stands at well over 8200 memshybers I am very proud of each and every one of you who have encouraged an indishyvidual to join our Division I still encourshyage you to keep doing just that Our dues structure is very reasonable and our publication is excellent I would like to thank everyone for their support

On a personal note the way the winshyter weather has been here in North Carshyolina and the southeast with all the rain and fog about the only thing I have been able to do with my Clipwing Cub is pump up the tires about every 30 - 60 days Of course it is not getting ravaged by the weather sitting in my hangar I look forshyward to the spring weather so I can get it back in the air again r have been flying my Baron a bit for business I was in Wilmington North Caro lina one aftershynoon and had one of my salesmen with me We called on a customer there and went back to the ai rport about 500 pm I jumped into the Baron and cranked the left engine a nd WHAMMO the right starter would not engage it had gone out I went back into Air Wi lmington there at the airport and they were very very helpshyful I would like to tha nk these people for being so responsive to my di lemma by having a mechanic return to the airport putting a starter on my airplane and havshying me on my way in very short order All of it done at a very reasonable figure I might add If you are ever in Wilmingshyton please stop by and visit wi th these people they are very he lpful a nd really care for airplane people

About two weeks later I was flying with our South Carolina salesman Bill

Deane We stopped in a small airport in So u t h Caro lina which did not have a FBO I got ready to leave from our cusshytomers location to Georgetown where Bill had just bought an E Model Boshynanza We got into my Baron and W H AMMO the left starter went out again This was not good - there was no one there - just the ramp runway and telephone booth We were stranded Bill called the gent leman whom he was buying the Bonanza from and he flew over and picked him up In the meanshytime there was a King Air on the airport from another company I asked if they were going to North Carolina or Greensshyboro and they said Yes we are but there is a company policy that we cant take any riders so they winged off into the sky without me Time for another plan I called my good friend Emory Chronister who happened to be at my hangar working on his 170 I told him I was stranded and asked if he would please drag out the 172 and pick me up I gave him my location and he said he would be on his way in 30 minutes I was standing out on the ramp just me and the fire ants and it started getting darker and darker twilight and the runway lights had not come on I thought to myself this is not good

Just about dark I was thinking about breaking into the FBOs building to see if there was a switch to fire up the runway lights Luckily for me the lights hapshypened to switch on suddenly Then about 30 minutes after darkness I heard the drone of the 172 Emory picked me up and we had a night flight back It took me three weeks to get back down there to pick up my Baron while trying to loshycate a starter at a reasonable figure It is now back in my hangar

Finally Id like to remind all of you who entered the AntiqueClassic Photo Contest at last years EAA Convention to be sure and send your entries to Jack McshyCarthy Photo Contest Chairman and his Co-Chairman Lorraine Morris right away Send your prints to

Jack McCarthy 14132 South Keeler Crestwood IL 60445

If you have a rules question or just need to contact him right away you can call him at 708371-U90

Lets all pu ll in the same direction for the good of aviation Remember we are better together Join us and have it all

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1

compiled by HG Frautschy C-=WJ ABOUT THE FRONT COVER

Artist Frank L Warren has this to say about his submission to the Sport Aviation Art Competition

MOVIE PLANES OVER WEST LOS ANGELES depicts an imaginary event with the great stunt pilot Frank Clarke leadi ng an ersatz jagdstaffel consisting of Travel Airs a Fokker DVII and a Pfalz D XII Clarkes plane is the Fokker as it appeared in the 1929 epic Hells Angels (Editors Note Recent research by Bill Hannan with the help of John Underwood and Peter Bowers plus many others has determined that the Fokker flown by Clarke in Hells Angels was in fact painted black with the white markings you see depicted in this painting The Fokker displayed hanging in the courtyard of Graumans Chinese Theater was evidently painted a shade of red with similar black markings See Bill Hannans terrific series of publications Stick amp Tissue International Volumes I and 2 for the information uncovered by Bill and his merry band of aviation sleuths Contact Hann ans Runway PO Box 210 Magalia CA 95954 Please enclose a Self-A ddressed Stamped Envelope If you enclose $1 they will send their entire catalog- HGF)

The checkerboard Travel Air and the checkerboard Pfalz are painted as they were for the 1930 film The Dawn Patrol The yellow and the striped Travel Airs are from 1938s Men With Wings I have imagined that Frank Tomick handles the checkerboard Travel Air and Roscoe Turner follows in the Pfalz Ace Bragunier is in the yellow plane while Dick Rinaldi keeps his eye on Clarke from the Wichita Fokker with the sunburst on its top wing

Incidental note - As I worked on this picture I had no idea that NASM was preparing to exhibit the very Pfalz I was depicting and that they also were painting the real plane as it had appeared in The Dawn Patrol However theirs is red and white and has only 2 rows of checkers on the wings-ah well we movie types never seem to get anything right The scene below the planes is UCLA and Westwood Village as they appeared in 1929 when all the wars the re were imaginary

2 FEBRUARY 1993

My educational and professional background also kept me oriented towards aviation a BA in Art ED Univ CA Santa Barbara 1 yr Art Center LA I spe nt 40 years as illustratordesigner and copywriter at Hughes Aircraft (5 years) and TRW (formerly Thompson Products) I am a lifelong aviation buff My uncle took me (when I was 6) for my first airplane ride in his beautiful black and bright yellow Waco 10 I was an unsuccessful Aviation Cadet during World War II (eliminated-so help me on a final check ride in BT-13s) Was a successful B-29 Propeller Specialist and KP (34 days in a row) I now live alternately in Santa Barbara and Norco CA I do occasional free lance jobs and paint a lot for my own pleasure

SPORT AVIATION ART COMPETITION

EAA Air Adventure Museum Director Carl Swick ley rece ntly announced plans for the 1993 EAA Sport Aviation Art Competion and its special theme AntiqueClassic Aircraft

The Art Competition will follow a similar format as that used for the previous 16 annual competitions it will be a juried contest for two dimensional media having aviation as its theme Par Excellence plaques will be awarded to the top five entries in addition to Excellence and Merit awards Entries from children 16 years of age or under will be judged separately in a Youth Division

A specia l Par Excellence will be awarded to the piece the judges feel best exemplifies this years theme - the joy and fun of restoring and flying Antique Classic and Contemporary airplanes of a bygone era

The deadline for entries is April 30 1993 For more information on the Competition please contact Joan Mueller R egistrar EAA Aviation Foundation PO Box 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065

AEROQUIP 601 HOSES

Aeroquip Corporation has sent out a le tter detailing problems associated

with the model 601 hose when used with aviation gasoline Aeroquip has seen degradation of the elastomeric inner tube on the 601 hoses that are in contact with aviation gasoline and has de termined that th e failures occur after about 2 years time after installation The time in service does not seem to influence this time before failure - the constant contact with the fuel over a certain time period is the determining factor

If you have any Aeroquip hose installed on your aircraft and would like more information on identifying and replacing a type 601 hose contact Aeroquip

The le tter from the company was sent to all ownersoperators of general aviation aircraft but if you did not rece ive a copy and would like one contact Aeroquip Corporation Aerospace Group 300 South East Ave Jackson MI 49203-1972 Phone 517787-8121

VOLUNTEERSFOREAA OSHKOSH 93 YOUTH

ACTIVITIES

Convention youth activities initiated in 92 and expanding in 93 need capable energetic volunteers to help in the preparation and preshysentation of the following youth activities at EAA OSHKOSH 93

-The WINGS Newsletter needs help to gather information prepare and distribute this pUblication for youngsters attending the Convention EAAers with newsletter or newspaper experience would be of special help in this project

-HANDS-ON WORKSHOP activshyities including traditional aviation projects plus activities to demonstrate the basic concepts of flight Both aviation craftsmen and educators could provide significant support of the Hands-On Workshop for youth at EAA OSHKOSH 93

- The CONVENTION QUEST provides a daily sequences of activity for youthful Conve ntion attendees We need ideas for activities and volunteers to staff the activity during the Convention

- The YOUTH FORUMS te nt nee ds hosts to receive the kid s

introduce speakers and answer questions

Contact the EAA Education office at the address listed after this next item with your interest and ideas

THE CLIFF ROBERTSON AIRPORT WORK

EXPERIENCE PROGRAM

A Summer Work Experience for Youth

A new program at EAAs Pioneer Airport starting this summer will be the focus of an exciting new program for youth Two youngsters will be selected to work at EAA from June 21st through August 13th They will work 30 hours per week for pay in and around Pioneer Airport Participants will also receive ground and flight instruction plus share in the many aviation and personal experiences available at the EAA Aviation Center and with their Oshkosh host fami ly throughout the Summer A travel subsidy for those living outside the Midwest is available

Applicants must

-Be participants in the EAA Young Eagles Program -Be 16 or 17 years of age as of June -Be avai lable June 21st - August 13th -Have a demonstrated interest in aviation -Submit a one page letter of application and a resume of experiences plus -Letters of recommendation from their local EAA Chapter school and others who know and can recommend them -Application materials must be received by May 1 1993

Questions and applications should be referred to

The Education Office EAA AVIAnON FOUNDATION Inc POBox 3065 Oshkosh WI 54903-3065 Phone (414) 426-4888

PARKS COLLEGE CADETS

Parks College of Saint Louis University will host a reunion October 2-3 1993 for all U S Army Corps cadets trained by Parks College personnel during World War II The reunion will be held on the Parks College campus in Cahokia Ill in conjunction with the colleges annual homecoming and open house Former

All loaded up with mail and ready for takeoff is this DeHaviliand DH-4 biplane powered with a 400 hp Liberty engine The unusual part of this photo from the EAA archives is that the skis are installed backwards The longer portion of the ski should be ahead of the axle and the big curved tip should be at the front One wonders how the pilot made out on his flight

instructors of cadets are especially invited to attend

Parks College trained cadets at five locations th e Parks campus in Cahokia IL Cape Girardeau and Sikeston MO Jackson MS and Tuscaloosa AL If you or anyone you know were a cadet or an instructor involved with the WWII training program under Parks College auspices please contact Nita Browning Director of Public Relations Parks College of Saint Louis University Cahokia IL 62206 or 618-337-7500 ext 206

SILVE R WINGS FRATERNITY

Bill Auman and Robert Mellinger both wrote to fill us in on the latest information concerning this organshyization in response to our news note last month Membership is open to those who have soloed an aircraft 25 years prior to the date of application Give the date location and type of aircraft you soloed in along with a check for $15 to Silver Wings Fraternity PO Box 44208 Cincinnati OH 45244 Phone 513321-5822 Annual dues are $10 thereafter The HQ for the fraternity is now PO Box 11579 Burke VA 22009-1579 Phone 703303-8763

Robert and Bill both advised that the founder of the fraternity Russ Brinkley passed away about a year ago An early aviation pioneer Russ was an airshow announcer in the late 20s and 30s and at one time had his own airshow He also worked as a newspaper man and radio announcer as well as a stint at the Waco factory

for a period of time Thanks for the help gentlemen

EAA PERIODICAL INDEX

Once again John Bergeson has this year s installment of his handy EAA Reference Guide ready for shipment With it you can locate just the article you are looking for in your collection

The basic vol ume covers 1953 shy1989 and costs $18

The supplements one each for 1990 92 and 93 cost $3 for each supplement

Payment is to be made in U S funds or Visa and Mastercard are also accepted Postage paid (bookrate) to USA and Canada Other countries add $2 per item

Send your orders to John Bergeson 6438 W Millbrook Remus MI 49340-9625 phone 517561-2393

CESSNA 140A STC

Based on the attention given by the NTSB and Cessna to water contamination problems in high wing Cessna aircraft C-Mods Inc has announced they have an STCd kit available to install a drain valve in the fuel sump (the lowest point in the fuel system) of Cessna 140As The installation allows water and other contaminates to be drained from the fuel system during preflight

C-Mods has other STCs available for a variety of other Cessna aircraft Kit prices range for $20-25 per aircraft Contact C-Mods PO Box 15388 Durham NC 27704 for more information shy

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

MAIL

Dear Editor

This is to say that I very much enshyjoyed your article in Vintage Airplane on the often abused and maligned (milk stool) Piper Tri-Pacer

It seems that very few people can comprehend the good fortune this perky little aircraft brought to the aviation world First it gave Piper Aircraft a secshyond chance to become another world leader in light plane manufacturing 2 it gave hundreds of small airport operators a small plane in which they could still clear a few bucks 3 and to the private pilot a craft in which he could afford to fly with his family

Down through the years I have owned three models of the PA-22 a 1953 56 and the 63 Colt model all performed well and were very economishycal to operate The only short-coming I perceived was the little craft s inability to carry a full load in high country but what 4 place 150 hp craft can

I recall how many years ago I was demonstrating the Tri-Pacer to Hubert Baker a seasoned pilot and he was asshytonished at the way you could trim-up the craft for a 300 fpm sink down to patshytern level without touching the controls Later on Piper mentions this control technique in some of their advertising in case a non-rated pilot was trapped on top of a solid overcast was their reasonshying for this maneuver

If r may have the liberty to say so there is one statement on page 12 in your article that I feel needs a bit of exshyplanation The statement goes someshything like this (The PA-20 Pacers conshyventionallanding gear was making it tough for Piper to compete with the Cessna 172 ) During its production life the Pacer didn t have to compete with the 172 as the 172 did not appear til late 1955

Actually Cessna is the one that had to compete after the runaway sales achievements of the Tri-Pacer which beshygan in 1951 It seems to me the Piper Cherokee is the craft that had to comshypete with the 172

r believe if Piper had elected to do a little modification on the PA-20-22 series

4 FEBRUARY 1993

they could have evolved into a line of airshycraft quite similar to the Maule aircraft which are very popular and useful today

The above statement is certainly not to belittle your Best Kept Secret artishycle my hope is to add just a little to it I too think the Milk Stool has been abused and overlooked so many times

As you mentioned in your article the Tri-Pacer is now enjoying a new lease on life as many are being converted back to Pacer form by sport pilots and probably even more so by bush pilots in remote areas over the world These aircraft make a fine light weight bush plane

ram enclosing a photo of a 1956 model that was converted by EAA member Ed Cahill a few years ago in Juneau AK Ed and r just landed the little craft on the North Pacific ocean beach and did a litshytle fishing The first shot shows the PAshy22-20 rigged out as a bush plane and the

other shot shows the same aircraft rigged out for cross country flying Note the QshyTip CS prop and wheel pants Again thanks for the good job on the Piper artishycle and all the other fine features of Vintage Airplane

Sincerely yours

Roy G Cagle A IC 9212 Prescott Arkansas

Thanks for the compliment Roy - and for the clarification The Tri-Pacer was indeed selling the industry on its ear durshying its first year oj production - Pip er sold more than 900 Tri-Pacers during the first two years ofproduction With over 7600 of the airplanes built it s a safe bet that the Tri-Pacer will be around for a long time to come - HGF

The First Flight by Susan Islas July 11 1991

Max Krugers Bird biplane teaches a new pilol what flying was like so many years ago

It was as if it was out of a story book One filled with time that stood stilL the easy life and simple pleasures A story without a plot but enjoyed for its content

It was an early Sunday morning as I drove across town to my airport The airport is about 16 miles west of town A 5000 foot paved runway nestled between corn fields and vast farm land Quiet and remote it has a charm and personality of its own that lures and refreshes the soul

As I drove the final stretch of road leading to the airport I took a casual inshyventory of the familiar sights No cars I am the first one here Thats good It will be quiet then Looks like Lou (the family FBO) is not up yet There s my Cessna

150 She looks pretty sitting there waiting to be flown this morning Windsock is ge ntly flowing not too much wind right down the runway too Corn sure looks ready to be picked Amount of rain must have been just right this year Liked it better when there were no crops on these fields more places to land Guess farmshyers have to farm

What is that Looks lik e an open h angar Someone is here after a ll Havent seen that airplane before Cant make it out just yet Its a bright orange one though Thats strange I have never noticed that hangar before a lthough it s always been there

As I drive closer I cant keep my eyes off the mystery plane I always enjoy seeshying an unfamiliar airplane Soon I rea lize it s a biplane but before I can make out further details I must turn around the corshyner and park

The child inside of me wanted to scramble out of the car and dash over to

the hangar only to be too breathless to ask questions In stead with great selfshycontrol I slowly exited my car and made my way to the hangar

I rounded the corner and stood dumbshyfounded at what I saw There glistening with absolute perfection in the early morning sun was a Brunner Winkle Bird Not that I knew what it was at the time However I was certain it was something special Some airplanes take time to deshyvelop a personality The Bird however ex uded instant character She held her nose high with a certain haughtiness Yet the broad fuselage and motorcycle-sized tires let one know that she was still humshyble The bright fuselage was in stark conshytrast to her cream colored wings The fabric was taut revealing her aerodyshynamic form and lines The metal crossshywires (later I was to learn they are called flying wires) stood si lent but I knew once airborne they would si ng Under her nose a huge radiator rudely interrupted

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

the gentle curve of the cowling A shiny wood propeller open cockpit all things from a time past A time I did not know

A man was sitting by the old Bird He acted as if he had not a care in the world Looked as if he were contemplating but not too hard He was looking out away from the airplane watching that early morning sunrise that complemented the Bird so

Like your plane I said trying not to be over-enthusiastic

No introduction no exchange of names Wasnt necessary We already had a common bond

Oh its not mine I just fly it he said in even tones

You just fly it I thought Wow This guy actually flies this plane He actually sits in that cockpit revs her up and takes to the air He gets to hear those crosswires sing He just flies it Ha I had a feeling no one JUST flies it they experishyence it If she flies anything like she looks it must be some great experience What kind of airplane is it I asked not daring at this point about keeping my enthusishyasm in check or revealing my possible igshynorance

Its a Bird he said matter-of-factly Oh I said hoping he would offer a

more in-depth answer He spoke as if he were talking about

the Sunday afternoon newspaper Nonshychalantly arms folded behind his head looking off into the distance he slowly began to elaborate about The Bird

It s a Brunner Winkle Bird They were built in the twenties This particular one was built in 1929 Nice f1yin airshyplane In fact Charles Lindbergh bought one for his wife to learn how to fly in Of all the airplanes he could have had he got her this one Shes still alive you know Still talks about her Bird The engine though no thats a 1917 Curtiss OXX-6 Its water cooled Thats why you see that big radia tor

What is the cruise speed I asked (As if it really mattered)

Oh it ll cruise around 85 mph Yea itll move if you want it to but this isnt an airplane to go places in We fly it around here mainly We like to fly it early mornshyings when it is still cool so we can really enjoy its great flying characteristics

Go ahead take a look inside the cockshypit if you want See those bars up there Don t grab those they connect the ailerons Keep on the black protected part when you step on the wing

Carefully I hoisted myself up onto the lower wing and peeked into the cockpit A stick a throttle and little else Beautishyfully simplistic

Im waiting on the owner to get here he said He was supposed to get here at 730 am Maybe he got confused and thought 800 Anyhow if you re still around here when he gets here you can

6 FEBRUARY 1992

probably go up for a ride if you want he stated in that same casual manner Probshyably wont get many chances to ride in a Bird

Really I exclaimed (No composhysure here folks) That would be great He only nodded

A ride I thought in the Bird Do I reshyally want to do this Am I going to enshytrust my life to a pilot I do not know and to an airplane that is almost three times as old as I am It did have a current airworshythiness certificate I rationalized Ill ask Lou about the pilot Beside isnt it worth it to say that I have flown in a 1929 airshyplane to feel the wind in my hair feel and hear that engine and look down from an open cockpit and to hear those crosswires sing You bet My heart pounded a bit faster at the very thought You only live life once and I intend on living it fully What an opportunity

I went to the FBO to do my research all the while thinking this was too good to be true I couldnt have just blundered into something as unique as this Surely something would fall through and I would be unable to go up in the Bird After reshyceiving a satisfactory approval on both the pilot and the plane from Lou my mind was more at ease

Soon I heard the roar of an unfamiliar engine

Thats it Lou said You better hurry or you might just miss the chance of a lifetime I ran out the door with enthushysiasm

Next thing I knew before I even had a chance to think twice about it I was sitshyting in the front cockpit stuffing earplugs into my ears fastening the bulky seat belt My heart was pounding

We taxied to the end of the runway No radios to deal with just the good old see and avoid technique Lined up and ready throttle gently added and shes rolling I wondered if it could ever get up to lift speed Just as I thought that our wheels parted with the ground It was as if we floated off from practically a standshystill So gently we took to the air that I thought I was imagining it all and that we were actually still rolling on the runway below For the first time I looked back over my shoulder at my pilot He offered a genial knowing smile He wore the typshyical old time goggles and helmet

I felt as if I had been whisked back in time for there was no indication of the 1990s Just farm land the 1929 Bird with the 1917 engine the goggled pilot and his eager passenger

As we gradually ascended I was delshyuged with new sensations I saw things beshylow I had never seen before I was lookshying down not through a window but through the air The engine roared only a few feet in front of me The wind oh how wonderful the wind rushed through my hair and in my face I was flying

Somehow it felt as if it was for the first time ever my first flight

We flew over a few green hills and around the small town at a slow speed one for really looking The farm workers below momentarily stopped looked up and pointed in amazement I peered over the edge of the cockpit enjoying all the sensations and sights I found myself smiling feeling wonderfully natural and free

After some time the pilot pulled the throttle back and nosed her over He must have known what I wanted Quickly she built up speed through her own momentum And in the semi-silence the wind rushed by the airframe Then I heard it the soft whistle the singing of the crosswires We pulled up into a stall So gentle was the stall I wasnt sure it reshyally happened A few steep turns an easy hammerhead or two and I knew the Bird was a friendly airplane She made everyshything comfortable and easy

Soon too soon it was time to land Throttled back we coasted towards the runway However we were not lined up with the cement runway but rather next to it towards the grass I braced myself for a bumpy landing I should have trusted her consistent amiable temperashyment for she took to the grass like it was a pillow Shes made for grass I thought Sure hope the pilot did not sense my anshyticipation It was the softest landing I have ever experienced I smiled back at the pilot to acknowledge his skill and to thank him for the flight He still had that same smile as if he knew what I was exshyperiencing

Slowly I climbed out not eager for it all to end I walked away with strong imshyages of the flight still lingering in my mind

The pilot turned the Bird over to the owner I watched as he taxied her away and took off again to the place where she belonged - in the air She slowly flew into the distance Her bright orange faded into but a shadow on the horizon

Some hours later I was still in a reverie about my first flight I walked into a restaurant full of people All eating all going about their lives as usual I thought to myself I have done something this morning that no one in this room probashybly has ever had the chance to do What a way to start my day What a nice experishyence to add to my life collection of experishyences It made me glad to be alive

I have experienced flight in a way that not even many pilots have I did not read or hear about history that day I experishyenced it I felt it heard it smelled it and lived it For a brief moment time stood still for me and I could imagine what it was like in that time I did not know I learned a most memorable lesson from a silent but genteel teacher - The Brunner Winkle Bird

Woodgrain On Metal Woodgrain by Estes keeps an old printing process alive for aircraft and automotive restorersYESI

by HG Frautschy

Editors Note During the past couple ofyears while I have had the privilege of editing Vintage Airplane Ive noticed and pointed out that aircraft restorers by their very nature are a pretty resourceful bunch Many of the folks involved in restorations have a particular talent that is not very well known or perhaps is very specialized In the future we will try to highlight some of their handiwork here in the pages of VINTAGE AIRPLANE Those people or companies with a little known but much appreciated or sought after talent are the ones we are looking for so if you know ofsomeone or a small company who has an unusual talent please drop us a line - wed love to tell othshyers about them and Id bet they would like to have the exposure here in the magshyazine-HGF

It looks like wood But it doesnt sound like wood when you rap it with a knuckle and it s cold to the touch just like metal What is it Self-adhesive vinyl Paint Formica Nope None of the above It s metal printed to look like wood grain

Back in the decades before and after WW II a number of companies including a few aviation firms took advantage of a printing process that gave the appearance of woodgrain but without the muss and fuss of wood finishing and its attendant maintenance headaches All sorts of things had woodgrain applied to them including jukeboxes but by far the most prevalent use of the woodgrain printing process was the automotive industry shyover 65 different car companies used the system to detail the interiors of their cars Everything from Plymouth to Packard and Dusenberg had the woodgrain apshyplied for trim According to Bennie Estes in addition to the Aeronca Chief instrushyment panel other aviation manufacturers that used the woodgrain trim included Stinson Waco and Fairchild

Also a few models of cash registers made by the National Cash Register Comshypany (NCR) in Dayton Ohio also used this process which resulted in a light easy to care for finish that was somewhat unafshyfected by heat and humidity and could be easily cleaned The automotive firms found it to be a cheaper (on a production

line basis) and attractive way to dress Bennie and Pat moved their business up the interior of their autos without to Sarasota FL in 1978 and have been having to add wood finishing costs to the steadily working ever since doing work final price of the car Aeronca and evishy for customers world-wide from instrushydently a few other aviation firms found ment panels to finishing the woodgrain the woodgrained panels added an autoshy stock on a prop gun for the Oliver Stone motive look to their cockpits perhaps movie JFK It seems the producers making them a bit more appealing to the needed a realistic looking replica of Lee average Joe who might be shopping for Harvey Oswalds gun and the woodgrain his post-war aerial carriage process (which can actually be applied to

Bennie Estes was an engineer at NCR any material as long as the base material during the 1960s and had watched the can hold a smooth coat of paint) was the production people at NCR apply the proshy finishing touch they needed Other cusshycess to the cash registers that were runshy tomers include Don Garlits the famous ning through the production line He reshy drag racer who is having a number of his calls watching them apply the woodgrain show cars finished off with this woodgrain and thinking to himself That would be a process fun hobby to get into During the years The process sounds simple but it reshy1967-68 NCR decided to phase out the quires a deft touch and and methodical process and shortly thereafter Bennie mind to make it all work out Bennie and left NCR to start his own machine shop his business partner Pat Estes have beshyHe purchased the equipment from NCR come masters at applying the woodgrain and started playing with it After three to any surface including a compound years of research Bennie decided to sell curve the machine shop and dive headlong into After carefully prepping the material the woodgrain printing business with zinc chromate and making certain

The first jobs he did were restorations that any surface imperfections have been for antique cars that had originally had eliminated the process begins with a this process applied to the dashboard As base coat of paint applied to the piece to so often happens as the Estes work beshy be woodgrained This paint will be the came known in antique car circles a few light in between the grain portion of auto enthusiasts who were also into airshy the wood Then the actual printing planes began to have work done for them process begins

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First the appropriate type of woodgrain is selected and the corshyresponding photo-etched plate is laid out on the workbench Bennie and Pat currently have over 90 plates from which to choose Each plate is etched from 3 to 7 thoushysandths of an inch deep which will give appropriate variations in the grain One style of woodgrain is shown

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

The ink is then carefully applied to the piece to be printed A crude analogy would be using a rubber stamp and a stamp pad - the process is similar This part of the process requires an adroit touch and must be done using great care One slip and its strip it off and try again Normally at this stage only the base coat of paint would be visible with the woodgrain ink being applied over the lighter color paint In this demonstration photo the panel has already had the woodgrain printing and protective urethane topcoat applied Each pass of the rubber roller must be carefully matched to the edge of the previous pass

An expensive ink is then applied to the plate and is carefully squeegeed into the etched areas of the plate using a finely machined metal squeegee With the 90 plates they have in stock Bennie and Pat can produce over 1600 grain variations

A very soft rubber roller is used to pick up the ink from the plate How soft is the rubber Its hardness is in the range of 4-6 dirometers - close to Silly Puttyreg with a memory If you were to push your fingerprint into the roller surface the imprint of your finger would remain for a number of minutes and then the rubber would return to its molded state A variety of rollers and applicators are used to transfer the ink but they all have very soft rubber as the transferring surface

The completed panel showing the fine variation of the wood grain pattern After the ink has dried a clear coat finish of urethane is sprayed over the surface to give a varnished look to the woodgrain finish and to protect the ink and base coat of paint from the elements

8 FEBRUARY 1992

The complete process can take as long as 3 to 4 weeks After each step inshycluding the prep work adequate time is given for the paint or ink to cure withshyout any additional heating used to speed the cure Each panel may get 15 or 30 minutes attention each day as each piece of the puzzle is linked together to comshyplete the process

They also prefer to do all of the preparation work themselves to make certain the base for the printing process will be compatible Fortunately with the new urethane primers and paints available versus the nitrocellulose lacshy

quers used originally the restored inshystrument panels should last much longer and be more resistant to the enshyvironment

The cost is not inexpensive - the Fairchild panels you see here were priced at approximately $225 Unfortunately since each panel is done as an individual project the relatively low cost per piece of a production line run when hundreds or thousands of pieces were done at the same time is simply not possible But if replicating the exact same process used on your piece of trim is important to you investigating whether this process

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(Above) Densel Williams EAA Oshkosh 92 Grand Champion Classic Aeronca 11 CC Super Chief has an instrument panel finished by Woodgrain By Estes as the centerpiece of his nicely restored interior Aeronca used the woodgrain effect in an effort to make the cabin of the Super Chief more car like It also has the added benefit of being much lighter in weight than a wooden panel of the same configuration

Bennie Estes and his business partner Pat Estes proudly show the finished panels for Joe Hindalls Fairchild 24W The finished panel looks spectacularly like the real thing

done the same exact way as the original may be worth it You can contact Woodgrain By Estes at 2230 Whitfield Park Dr Sarasota FL 34243 Phone 813753-9663

Remember if you or someone you know performs a rare or unique process and you think other AntiqueClassic members would like to know about it drop me a line here at EAA HQ Your fellow members will be happy to find out that Hey that can still be done and the person or company doing the work will be pleased that others will know how to contact them Let us know

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9

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by Ron Bailey (EAA 408304) Edmonton Alberta Canada

When my youngest grandson helped me blowout the candles on my sixtyshyeighth birthday I came to the sobering realization that the time remaining in my allotted three score and ten years was diminishing at an alarming rate The advancing years were also catching up with Kilo Charlie Tango my aging 1946 Cessna 140 By EAA criteria she was a classic in spite of languishing in the tall grass at Thunder Bay Ontario St Andrews Manitoba and Cooking Lake Alberta Our last pilgrimage to Oshkosh had been in 1983 but that had been from the Lakehead Nine years have since elapsed and Cooking Lake is that much further removed I came to the conclusion that if we were ever to make one last hadji to that aviation mecca in Wisconsin it had better be soon During her annual medical this spring I asked Mike Paplinski of Aero Tech Alberta if Charlie Tango could bull bull bull to Oshkosh make the long journey to Oshkosh and return He thought that she could but in case she couldnt he installed a set of and resets the gyro occasionally we plane and acquired a bride Not an unshyshoulder harness as a precaution should be able to find Oshkosh usual circumstance I decided to extend

Navigating by dead reckoning is an In a society obsessed with acronyms the invitation for him to accompany me anachronism synonymous with the sailshy this flight would be conducted by through my new daughter-in-law hopshying ship Charlie Tangos panel for BOTTOMS (Back Over To The Old ing it would be accepted with more enshythe most part is little changed since the Manual System) I had a thought of acshy thusiasm than her mother-in-law had day she rolled off the assembly in Wishy quiring a Loran or GPS but rather than shown Lo and behold it was and the chita forty-six years ago Apart from an sit mesmerized by a panel of navigashy flight planning could begin altitude encoding transponder mandashy tional instruments I decided to look for The following day I journeyed over to tory in the Edmonton control zone for a co-pilot instead We could then enjoy the Edmonton Flying Club to pick up a some dubious reason a compass and dishy the scenery enroute and at least know set of maps For those who havent purshyrectional gyro are all we have to guide where wed been chased a new sectional lately be adshyus What the heck Captain Cook cirshy My youngest son Grant who lives in vised that they now cost $1359 per copy cumnavigated the globe with less Surely Saskatoon was a one time pilot That (in Canada) That should be enough to if one keeps track of the isogonic lines was before he disposed of his third air- either send the low budget flyer over to

10 FEBRUARY 1992

the tourist bureau for a road map or commit the old bird to a Ritchie Auction - and take up golf

Planning a flight of this duration in shyvolved some current factors that were never discussed at the flight school I atshytended A great deal of emphasis was placed on fuel efficiency and provision for reserve I wish that some aviation medishycal practitioner would develop a chart similar to the Koch chart for density altishytude that would relate age distance and bladder capacity By drawing a line on such a chart one could determine th e ideal dista nce between fuel stops etc Not having such precise data available I determined by experience that the flight time of one hour and thirty minutes beshytween Cooking Lake and L10ydminster is about the ideal interval for both fuel and other requirements Beyond L1oydminshyster Saskatoon Regina and Estevan this criteria results in an odyssey of middle America Stops are indicated at Minot Jamestown Fergus Falls Flying Cloud Waupaca and Oshkosh This will entail considerable landing and take-off practice if nothing else

The flight to L10ydminster was routine although I did discern a drop or two of oil on the tarmac after fueling up At Saskashytoon where I picked up my co-pilot the oil consumption appeared normal but again a slight drip from the cowl was noted A similar situation prevailed at Regina and when we arrived at Minot to clear Customs the drip had become a trickle I feared our Oshkosh flight might terminate at Minot ND

We were parked in front of a hangar emblazoned with the name Pietsch Flyshying Service above the door The name struck a respondent chord in my memshyory Twenty-five years previous I had made one of the great miscalculations of my life I had taken my present co-pilot then ten years old to an airshow at St Andrews Man The star performer that day was a stunt pilot named Al Pietsch

Thus began an involvement in aviation that would disrupt our happy family usurp my hard earned savings and culmishynate here in Minot North Dakota starshying at a puddle of oil trickling out of an ancient Cessna

I walked into the hangar office and was greeted by a comely receptionist who smiled when I inquired if this was the same Al Pietsch whom I reme mbered from long ago She nodded to two chaps sitting on an adjoining sofa They were AIs two sons who had just returned from flying airshows at Fort St John and Whitehorse Then AI himself showed up I asked if he remembered flying an old Starduster Too at an airshow at St Anshydrews Man in 1967 He replied that it was a new Starduster Too and is now an old Starduster Too

On learning of our predicament he immediately dispatched a fine young meshychanic who pulled Charlie Tango over to the hangar After steam cleaning the engine it was determined that the leak was in the generator seal and he immedishyately began to remove the generator The next morning all was back together and we were on our way to Oshkosh once again

I get distressed when I hear disparagshying remarks about our American friends and the above incident only amplifies my unease in this regard

At each FBO we stopped we were treated courteously Charlie Tango inspired favorable comment and reshyceived TLC during each fueling operashytion We had decided that I would fly the morning shift while fresh and Grant would take over after lunch as I began to fade After laps from Minot to Jamestown and Fergus Falls I was happy to relinquish the controls for the flight to Flying Cloud We had decided to overnight in Minneapolis and visit a cousin of mine Flying Cloud is located deep within the Twin Cities control zone (TCA) and the radio traffic suggested

this would be a good warmup for Oshkosh Our Mode C transponder came into use and we were vectored into Flying Cloud directly On the ground we proceeded to Aero Services Inc where they fueled us up and provided hangar storage free of charge Deparshyture the following morning was handled like the arrival and we were cleared on course right through the control zone

H is a two and one quarter hour flight from Flying Cloud to Waupaca We arshyrived over this picturesque little Wisconshysin town shortly before noon The Oshkosh A TIS advised that the field would be closed until 1900 This being Saturday the second day of the big airshyshow we had anticipated such a continshygency and arranged to stay at Waupaca which has a fine uncontrolled airport with a new terminal building and great tiedowns That afternoon we rented a U-Drive and drove to the 1201140 Assn barbecue at the Oshkosh Country Club Of all the attendees we had flown the farthest and were royally treated

Sunday proved another difficult day for arrivals The pilot of a KR-2 suffered a heart attack during flight and crashed off the south end of the airport This reshysulted in various complications so we deshycided to postpone our attempted field arshyrival until the following day

In the sky bright and early over Waushypaca on Monday morning we learned Oshkosh was closed and holding was in progress due to congestion of arrivals The Chicago Milwaukee St Paul and Pashycific Railroad once had a branch line runshyning through the towns of Ripon and Fisk into Oshkosh The abandoned line runs straight to Wittman Field and is used to direct incoming arrivals by a controller on the ground at Fisk We were finally able to penetrate the great circle of planes milling around Rush Lake Prop to tail in single file around and around we went for almost an hour listening to the conshytrollers instruction No verbal response

VINTAGE AIRPLANE11

Rons grandson Cody Bailey poses by a Corsair Statue at Denvers Centennial Airport He is of the next generation of pilots

is needed Finally we heard the following Red and white Canadian Cessna 140 rock your wings proceed down the tracks to Fisk Maintain 90 knots and 1800 MSL Monitor Oshkosh Tower 1185 over Fisk All trailing aircraft follow Canadian Cessna single file We were to lead the parade Down the old right-of-way we went toward Fisk Changing to tower freshyquency as requested our instruction was Red and white Canadian Cessna 140 downwind right two seven on the button clear to land Out over Lake Winnebago on downwind right base and short final to two seven

No sooner had our wheels touched the pavement than a bike rider waved us off the runway and we began our tortushyous taxi to the show plane parking area at the far end of runway 36 Finally we had arrived Row 85 third space in from the flight line an ideal location for viewshying the airshow and the arrivals and deshypartures

One of the major highlights of Oshkosh for me was a visit to the EAA Air Advenshyture Museum This was my first opportushynity to view the new Eagle Hangar added in 1989 Awesome This museum is a world class facility and like the Tyrrell Museum of Paleontology in Drumheller Alberta two or three days are required to do it justice I also enjoyed Pioneer Airshyport a Stan-Reynolds-like collection of vintage aircraft all in flying condition and stored in vintage hangars as Stan has done at Wetaskiwin Each day they wheel them out on the tarmac for viewing or a flight

12 FEBRUARY 1992

around the patch The heavy military metal that we enshy

joyed at Namao this spring was somewhat different than the heavy iron at Oshkosh There was however a good supply of Warbirds and some beautishyfully restored B-25 Mitchells that flew in a Doolittle commemoration of the raid on Tokyo fifty years ago

Another highlight was the appearance of a second Lockheed Super Constellashytion restored to flying condition I had last seen this old aircraft languishi ng away at Dorval Quebec after a spruce bud worm spraying expedition It was purshychased in 1984 by John Travolta and is now owned by Vern Raburn of Scottsshydale Arizona The Gee Bee was parked nearby a nd each time a shower threatshyened they pushed it under the Connies broad wing for shelter Delmar Benshyjamins Gee Bee was also a treat to watch in the air and his flying performance at the airshow was spectacular

For one whole week at Oshkosh we heard not one word of murders rapes AIDS or politics The only talk we heard was about airplanes the people who built them the people who owned them and the people who flew them Oshkosh is a tonic to last the whole year Good on you EAA

All good things must come to an end however and tomorrow we must pack up and head for home The next morning as we arose at dawn departures were a lshyready underway We completed our ablushytions and had our last breakfast in the

Hangar Cafe Since my co-pilot had gotshyten us safely into Oshkosh it was my turn to get us safely out The ATIS advised that runway 27 was in use for departures with a wind of 30012 Our bike escort was waiting and guided us back through the tortuous route we had followed on arshyrival The taxiing process consumed alshymost an hour The scene that greeted me on arriving at the threshold of 27 was one to make the heart of a pasture pilot skip a beat Aircraft were departing in pairs from either side of the center line At any one moment there were six planes on the runway in various stages of departure many of them taildraggers like ourselves There was no turning back however when we got the wave it was right aileron full throttle get the tail up and away we go Charlie Tango pointed skyward like a horse heading for the barn in a snowshystorm The euphoria of that moment will remain as the apogee of my aviation exshyperience forever

We touched down at Waupaca to fuel up with 8087 and access the Pan Amerishycan Weather Network which provides hard copy of the SAs ITs upper winds and weather map A big high was buildshying over North Dakota so once again the Lord tempers the wind for the 140 flyers Having forgone a second cup of coffee this morning I manage to endure the three hour flight to St Cloud MN My co-pilot flies the next three hour stretch to Jamestown where we overnight Two Globe Swifts follow us in with the same idea One is a si ngle pilot and the other a couple each heading for California and dodging a front in Wyoming We share the mote l limousi ne have dinner and spend a convivial evening together sharshying our Oshkosh experiences

The weather is CA vOK (CA VU in the US) next morning and we will make the best of it Two and a half hours to Esshytevan and a similar interval to Saskatoon where I (reluctantly) lose my co-pilot The next day it was on through familiar skies to Alberta

Except for the incident in Minot Kilo Charlie Tango performed flawlessly Home again she has resumed her static angle of repose on the three concrete slabs embedded in the turf at Cooking Lake To the casual observer she might have just returned from a flight to Tofield Cam rose or Wetaskiwin I however have a plaque with her picture on it and a mug adorned with a set of pewter wings to prove she had once been an AnshytiqueClassic showplane at EAA Oshkosh 92 She done good

The flight to Oshkosh covered some 3000 miles involved sixteen stops and required thirty-five hours flying time The acronym BOTTOMS turned out to be descriptive because after that length of time in a Cessna 140 I cershytainly had a sore one

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Poised on the flight line at EAA OSHKOSH 92 John and Lindas 1942 Grumman Gshy44A Widgeon displays the classic lines of the stout airframe designed by the engineers of the Grumman Iron Works

The late 1930s saw remarkable changes in the still relatively new industry called aviation Aircraft manufactured towards the end of the decade would benefit from the advances being made in aircraft strucshytures and aerodynamics as well as a loosshyening or the Great Depressions financial stranglehold Grumman Aircraft was in a unique position to reap the rewards of these changes

As the United States geared up its milishytary for the defense of the free world Grumman produced a series of military aircraft that literally spanned the changes that would characterize the decade - from biplanes with fabric covered surfaces to a ll metal monoplanes Roy Grummans company began with work for the US Navy designing an amphibious float for

14 FEBRUARY 1993

use with the Vought Corsair biplane fighter With the exception of outside reshypair work on Loening Air Yachts done to help keep the company coffers solvent while the engineering and fabrication work was done on the military project Grumman built aircraft entirely for the military But the civilian market was never far from Roy Grummans thoughts and in 1936 after being contacted by a syndicate of 10 wealthy businessmen pen was put to paper to create Grumman Airshycrafts first civilian airplane design the twin-engined G-21 Goose an amphibian with plenty of room for the businessman sportsman who could afford the $60000 price tag Grumman was in the unique position of having a lot of experience building seaplanes having built the J-l

and J-2 Duck series for the military since 1934 Experience gained from the hull deshysign of the Duck and the ingenious landshying gear designed by Roy Grumman and Bill Schwendler would add up to help make the Goose and its smaller sibling aircraft with no equal The Goose first flew May 31 1937 and would stay in proshyduction until 1945 with a total of 345 airshyplanes built

The Goose proved to be a success for Grumman but it was for some a bit too large Market studies showed there was potential for a smaller twin-engined amshyphibian with the same basic capabilities as the 6-place Goose but at a lower operatshying cost

In August 1939 the engineering staff at Grumman began work on the new smaller

(Below) The front office of the Widgeon complete with overhead engine controls The hatch on the right side of the cockpit allows entry to the bow hatch A removable rudder bar fits in a receptacle on the floor to allow the co-pilot to fly the amphibian using the throwover yoke

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amphibian the 4 to 5-place model G-44 The G-44 was basically just a shrunk down version of the G-21 Goose of which the flight characteristics were considered outshystanding for a plane of its weight and size Maintaining the company tradition of naming the amphibious aircraft after washyterfowl the new trim little airplane was dubbed Widgeon after a small freshwashyter duck found in various parts of the world (The British who would later take delivery of 11 of the military model J4F-2 would no doubt referring to the ancestry of the smaller amphibian dub the airplane the Gosling) Work on the airplane was completed by the middle of 1940 and Bud Gillies and Roy Grumman first test flew the airplane on June 28 1940 Pleased with the results work progressed towards certifying the design as war clouds loomed on the horizon The Widgeon would have just 37 built before Grumman was to shift all production to military aircraft The Widgeon line was not stopped though - it simply became the J4F as its utility beshycame known to the military The US Coast Guard was the first military cusshytomer buying 8 airplanes in 1941 for use in coastal patrol (It would later buy 17 more during 1942) The Navy also found the Widgeon useful and would order 131 for use as utility aircraft - submarine spotshyting search and rescue medical evacua-

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

tion and whatever else the Navy had a need for Even the US Army found the Widgeon useful sometimes flying the airshycraft as landplanes removing the tip floats for a little added speed The uniquely large cabiil essentially a box with the botshytom hull Y added was very comfortshyable for almost any activity the military could come up with For added utility the Coast Guard aircraft had a flip-open hatch added to the top of the fuselage just above the normal door opening The top loading hatch allowed easier loading of patient litters

A Coast Guard Widgeon also served as an offensive weapon - the Widgeon asshysigned to th e CG base at Houma Louisiana is officially credited with a subshymarine kill in the Gulf of Mexico south of the Mississippi river delt a The action took place on August 1 1942 The J4F had bee n modified to carry a 325 lboo depth charge under the starboard wing On routine patrol over the Gulf Chief Aviation Pilot Henry C White and his crewman Radioman First Class George H Boggs Jr spotted the 225 foot long

16 FEBRUARY 1993

German submarine U-166 on the surface As the sub tried to make its escape by divshying White released the depth charge while in a dive with the Widgeon and Rashydioman Boggs observed the bomb exshyplode with what appeared to be a direct hit The sinking of the U-166 was the only sinking of a sub by the Coast Guard during WW II This Widgeon is still flyshying in Alaska today A similar scene had been enacted by the Civil Air Patrol two weeks previous - Wynant Fan and Johnny Haggin tracked a German U-boat off the New Jersey coast for three hours until it came up to periscope deptl at wbich time they dutifully dropped two depth cbarges on the target They too were credited with a submarine kill

As the war drew to a close Grumman began to produce a civilian model of the Widgeon again A slight design modificashytion to the hull was made (the G-44 had a tendency to bury its bow on landing if the approach was made at too Iowa trim anshygle as documented in NACA Report Wshy104) The new deep keel configuration was designed to alleviate that problem

76 G-44As would be built between 1944 and 1949 An additional 30 aircraft desigshynated SCAN 30s were built in France unshyder license by Societe de Constructions Aeros Navales in 1949 powered by the Salmson 8 AS-OO engines of 200 hp

As the Ranger engine became less and less the engine of choice for some owners a number of modifications were STCd to upgrade the Widgeon One of the most startling was the installat ion of a pair of 300 hp Lycoming radials Instantly the Widgeon looked even more like its big brother the Goose A different idea was in the making though - the installation of the 260 hp Lycoming flat-opposed engines gave the Widgeon the added kick it needed With constant-speed props and a total of 120 more horsepower the Widshygeon had more acceptable engine out characteristics (it would now maintain alshytitude on one engine something it could

not do with the fixed-pitch wood prop and Ranger engine combination)

Certainly the most commonly known conversions of the Widgeon were done by the McKinnon-Hickman Co Commonly referred to as the McKinnon conversion the centerpiece of the changes made to the airplane was the installation of a pair of Lycoming GO-435A engines equipped with 2-bladed Hartzell propellers The smaller diameter of the 2-bladed props helps keep them out of the water spray that is so detrimental to the life of the prop blades Additional changes include the installation of an augmenter type exshyhaust system and on some airplanes the modification of the wing to accept reshytractable tip floats As time has passed the horsepower of the engines installed on converted Widgeons has steadily climbed to the point that many of the airshyplanes now feature almost 13 more power

than they had installed originally The added clout of the new installations really helps the airplane s rate of climb not to mention its ability to take off from even more restricted waterways and runways The versatile Grumman Widgeon kept on doing the job it was designed for long afshyte r it became a bonefide antiq ue For many owners nothing else can replace it

John Schwamm has had the Widgeoo bug for a long t ime He and his new bride Linda are enjoying the fruits of the labor involved in the rebuild of Grumman G-44 Widgeon seria l number 1324 N144GW When it was first built in 1942 as a J4F-2 it wore the drab blue and white of the US Navy but when it arrived at EAA OSHKOSH 92 it had a spectacular new paint scheme and immediately drew a small crowd of admirers

The waterway to Oshkosh was a long haul for the bantam Grumman - it had not had a easy life up to that point

According to John this Widgeon in more than one occasion in its lifetime has had the nose section torn off Two times in the past the airplane has suffered a mishap resulting in its sinking The first time the pilot of the Widgeon in an atshytempt to avoid a collision with another aircraft during a takeoff run had to lift off too early The Widgeon cleared the other

Carl Schuppel

airplane but without sufficient speed to maintain fl ight the pilot wound up landshying the amphibian in a lake with the landshying gear down Putting any airplane i n the water with the gear down just about guarantees the ai rplane will immediately bury its nose in the water and fl~p over on its back T his time would prove to be no exception - the Widgeons nose plunged into the water and the loads imposed on the fuselage were too much with the nose of the airplane being torn from the rest of the fuselage Dragged back to shore the Wjdgeon languisb ed un til bought by an ai rline owner who had the airplane reshybuilt After flyi ng it for a few years and putting a couple of hundred hours on it he too had an unfortunate landing - once again the Widgeon wound up on the botshytom of alake with the nose of the airplane ripped off The airplane was salvaged a fiberglass nose put on it and the Widgeon was flown out to have another major reshybuild A new nose was grafted onto the airplane the forward hull you see on the airplane today But its days of rough washyter were not yet over

John does not have all the details but after this resurrection the airplane and the airline owner were once again plying the airways and waterways of Alaska when they became the main players in anshyother incident While flying off the water the Widgeon came back down and landed on the water surface but was too close to the shoreline to turn It climbed the bank and went crashing through the trees tearshying off the outer wing panels and twisting the aft fuselage The props were manshygled and it seemed there was hardly a piece of metal left in the airplane that

VINTAGE AI RPLANE 17

John and Linda Schwamm

had not been bent or dented with one exception - the nose was spared any major damage this time John and Linda said there were a few minor dents to be worked out of the metal on the nose but by and large it was damshyage free

Incidentally in all three of these crashes as far as John knows everyshybody involved walked away with nothshying major hurt Quite a testimony to the stout airplanes built by the Grumshyman Iron Works

This time the insurance company sold the salvaged wreck to an Alaska Airlines pilot Dave Strelinger who later sold it to John Schwamm When youve been bitten by the Widgeon bug so hard youre willing to tackle anything so piece by piece parts were gathered rivets drilled and once again serial number 1324 Grumman Widshygeon was made whole A new set of wings were found and the intricate task of transferring the McKinnon reshytractable wingtip floats was done Also

18 FEBRUARY 1993

to extend the range of the Widgeon long range fuel tanks were installed bringing the total on board to 176 galshylons Other sheet metal work was farmed out to various mechanics Dave Strelinger the Alaska airlines pilot had a full time mechanic Chris Edshywards working for him at his shop in the Seattle area He worked on the project for two years helping John reshyalize his dream of flying a Widgeon

The 270 hp engines were also reshyplaced with a pair of 295 hp Lycomings that were sold 20 years ago for use on the Helio Courier A friend of Johns had run across them in of all places Thailand They were leftovers from Helios used during the Vietnam War era Even though they came new in the boxes John had them carefully checked and overhauled A pair of long (90) 3-bladed Hartzell props help convert all that horsepower to thrust The extra power is quite noshyticeable The Widgeon can be a hawk in duck s clothing - with all the extra power coupled with the new props it will surprise you with an astonishingly rapid acceleration on takeoff and an equally impressive rate of climb All I could say was Wow as John just sat over on the left side of the cockpit and grinned

The aft cabin presented quite a chalshylenge to the rebuilders Badly twisted and banged up the aft hull of this Widshygeon is all new sheet metal with the vertical fin off a Coast Guard J4F-1 Widgeon

As the mechanical work came to a close the decision on the color scheme had to be made For six months John and Linda worked on the paint ideas We really agonized over it she reshycalled

Keeping elements of the original paint jobs of the first Widgeons and working with the lines of the hull and wing they with the help of Alaskan artist Don Dawson came up the the very pleasing scheme you see on these pages The entire airplane is finished with Ditzler polyurethane enamel apshyplied over a three month time frame by Lindbergh Aircraft in Arlington W A

The interior and cockpit were also carefully restored with soundproofing and pleasant gray leather and tan side panels Also included in the ceiling is a laminated map of Alaska as their friends George and Ruby Pappas had done in their Widgeon

Up in the cockpit an entire set of modern instruments and avionics was installed in the completely reworked panel All of the cockpit placards were redone as well as refinishing the many knobs used on various controls

Active in the real estate business in Alaska John intends to use the WIdshygeon more for pleasure than for busishyness for trips to the wilderness to camp or visit their cabin for fishing

John and Linda are quite tickled that such a terrific airplane has come into their lives and they look forward to exshyploring their ~me state of Alaska with the Widgeon Looks like fun to us

by Norm Petersen

A neat photo of Dr Carl Nichols standing next to his 1947 Piper PA-12 Super Cruiser N3336M SIN 12shy2194 was featured in the February 1992 VINTAGE AIRPLANE magashyzine under the column heading What Our Members are Restoring At the time we noted that Dr Nichols arm was being gently twisted for him to come forth with the full story of the PA-12 restoration

Lo and behold this fine gentleman from Mississippi sent us his entire photo album with the story of the PAshy12 from beginning to end With a bit of information gathered from him we are ab le to complete the story of this pristine Super Cruiser

Dr Nichols made his solo flight in a J-3 Cub way back in 1941 while a stushydent in the Civi l Pilot Training Proshygram at Ole Miss in Oxford Mississhysippi his alma mater He admits to an affinity for Piper aircraft ever since that time Over the years h e has owned nine airplanes - of which eight have been Pipers (His one excurshysion was a Citabria)

Shopping about for a PA-12 he

had a PA-12 with a lowtime 150 Lyshycoming that was in good shape with one exception - the paint was peeling It h ad been rebuilt abo ut six years previous but the dope suffe red from poor adhesion Sensing this would be a good starting point Carl bought the PA-12 and fl ew it up to C leve la nd MS home of Pete Jones Air R epair In c - well know n for Stearman restorations

Overhead shot reveals how the paint was peeling from the fuselage with just the slightest amount of provocation The lack of bonding was painfully evident

came across hi s friend Billy Ray The original instrument panel really needed some help especially with the two Handly of nearby Arcola MS who radios removed

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Fuselage is suspended so it can be rotated while the Ceconite is put on and the first coats of dope are applied Note the cast aluminum valve covers on the 150 hp Lycoming

A close inspection revealed that mice had chewed most of the ribstitchshying in the wings so the best course of action was to tear it down and do a complete rebuild of the airframe Pete Jones and his crew agreed to do the job - provided they werent pushed (Of necessity in Petes shop the Stearshymans get first priority) The PA-12 was torn down to reveal a really fine airframe which was carefully restored to new condition A new instrument panel was fabricated and a new inteshyrior was installed The outside was covered in Ceconite and butyrate dope and finished off in a red and white paint scheme

Unusual in that it still has cast alushyminum valve covers with the large Lyshy

Last piece of bootcowl metal is carefully fitted before final painting The interior with new instrument panel has also been installed Interior colors are red and black

With the tail feathers and ailerons covered the airplane is assembled for rigging coming L cast into them the 150 with the new control cables You can see that the interior and landing gear are

(continued on page 26) already installed

All dressed up and ready to go the new PA-12 looks sharp in its fancy new covering and paint scheme - even the hub caps are red Note wing fairings on strut ends and jury struts

20 FEBRUARY 1992

WHAT OUR MEMBERS ARE RESTORING ----------------------------by Norm Petersen

Jeff Forrests Stinson 108-1

Brought back to mint condition in 1989 this sharp looking Stinson 108-1 Voyage r NC81 89K SIN 108-1189 is the proud possession of Jeff and Sharon Forest of Bloomfield Hills MI Finished off in blue and white Stits using an original paint scheme th e Stinson re tain s it s original Franklin e ngin e in a compartment that rea lly sparkles with attention to detail The aircraft inte rior is done in

a matching blue and grey that complishyments th e ex terior Ori gin a l me ta l wheel pants finish the Stinson look The poli she d metal prop a nd large spinner gives the first clue that this classic is something diffe rent - plus the chrome plated nose grill s The Forshyrest s Stinson is based at the Oakland Pontiac Airport in Pontiac MI and is one of 2308 Stinson 108 series remainshying on the FAA register

Doug Williams Champion 7GCA

The first attempt at rebuilding an airplane reshysulted in this very nice looking 1960 Champion 7GCA N8921 SIN 7GCA-168 by its owner Doug Williams (EAA 299040 AIC 11781) of Moreland Georgia Doug reports the rebuild took three and one-half years of spare time work after the Chamshypion was damaged by high winds fro m a squall line The two spars in the right wing had to be reshyplaced and the entire airplane was covered with the Stits process A new interior really dressed up the cockpit area Powered with a Lycoming 0-320 of 150 hp the Champion would make an excellent towplane or floatplane - especially with its full electrica l system Doug says he had planned on keeping the blue and white Champion forever but now wants to rebuild another airplane so he might consider selling the rather rare bird (It is one of only two 7GCAs listed on the FAA register)

Dougs phone is 404-253-1120

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21

WHAT OUK MEMBERS ABE RESTORING ----------------------- by Norm Petersen

James Jones Piper J-3 Cub

An energetic and excited James Jones (EAA 404793 AC 19174) of Ca dot WI rece ntly brought this res torabl e woodspar Pipe r J-3 Cub

22 FEBRUARY 1993

N41567 SIN 9047 to his shop to comshymence work Built on April 21 1942 the Cub has logged 2703 hours on the airframe The original Franklin 65 enshygine was replaced with a Continental A65 in 1946 which in turn was rebuilt in 1960 by Southern Minnesota Avi ation Service Owatonna MN for a total of $61100 The labor alone was 55 hours at $3 75hr The Cub has been flown 677 hours since then mostly in central

Fran Nans Cessna 170B

Some people end up with the best of all worlds This very nice looking 1952 Cessna 170B N8314A SIN 25066 was purchased in Minnesota and moved to Wisconsin by its new owner Fran Nans of Cudah y WI Complete with a matching set of Edo 89-2000 floats the 170B was

Wisconsin by five different owners It was placed in storage in 1986 until James discovered it in a dark dusty shed in the spring of 1992 James who is a brand new pilot plans on a total restoration to original condition

A close look at James Cub pictures reveals a nice 40 Chevy two door and a 1946 Buick fastback in the yard If these are an indication of his ability and workshymanship the Cub will be a dandy

taken off floats so the new owner could learn to fly a taildragger (on whee ls) Once this is accomplished Fran hopes to put it back on floats in the summer and enjoy the pleasures of seaplane flying along with acquring a seaplane rating on hi s pilot license Note how the paint scheme is carefully carried over to the floats for an overall pleasing effect

Heres what might be called the basic flying machine a bare bones airplane the photo is from the Russell collection in the EAA archives Answers will be pubshylished in the May 1993 issue of VINshyTAGE AIRPLANE Deadline for that issue is March 20 1993

The November Mystery Plane evishydently puzzled many readers for only two replies were received Roy Cagle of Prescott AR had the correct answer He writes

The aircraft was designed and built during 1929-1930 George H Orydden the designer had been associated with William Stout during the development of the Stout all-metal aircraft This aircraft was known at the time as the PruddenshyWhitehead All -Metal Trimotor monoshyplane The Whitehead part was a Mr Edward Whitehead a World War I vetshyeran and successful businessman who likely financed the project

The aircraft was built by the Atlanta Aircraft Corp of Atlanta Georgia and was all-metal throughout of duraluminum and duraluminum Alclad It had many new features for its day - NACA cowling with collector rings engine nacelles mounted in the leading edge of the wing Aero shocks Bendix brakes with high pressure tires and a wash room and toishylet It was powered by three Wright J-6 R-670 engines and was an eight-place configuration or mail and cargo variashytions Wingspan was 66 ft 6 in length 44

by George Hardie 145 mph landing speed 55 mph Take-off run 384 ft (These references are from Southern Aviation and Aero Digest) An extensive article on the airplane can be found in the British magazine Flight for January 2 1931

Charley Hayes of Park Forest IL came close He writes

Could the fertile mind of William B Stout have been involved in the concepshytion of this aircraft which certainly looks like a low-wing Ford Trimotor

Roy Cagle also sent in further inforshymation on the Mystery Plane for August John Underwood Glendale CA was right - it is the Frenard Duck Roy sent a copy of a short article that appeared in Air Progress Special Spring amp Summer 1966 describing the airplane Quoting

from the article This unusual homebuilt was first

flown in 1950 following four years of deshysign and construction work by Fred Arnoldi a former Curtiss engineer Craft seats only its pilot is known as a Freshynard A quick removable tri-gear plus addition of floats permits water operashytions Wings are of fabric-covered torque box construction and swept hull is all plywood with tail fabric over plywood structure Stabilizer and elevator are loshycated across the bow in a canard configushyration utilizing a plywoodfa bric conshystruction The Frenard can be assembleddisassembled in under an hour and has its own trailer for road transshyportation approximate cost of construcshytion was $2500

ft 10 in Gross weight 7735 Ibs top speed Prodden-Whltehead All-Metal Trlmotor monoplane

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

Dear Buck

And here s more poop on that knocker Defender I took t hese shots while working on Tara Tara Tara The bird belonged to the CAP at that time (or someone in the CAP) I sent for t he booklet detailing the hostile fire incident involving this little bird I was a tad at the time (about 1943) Maybe one of these booklets is still extant

Warmest Regards

Bob OHara EAA 77223 AIC 9561

Neat photos How about it all you felshylow AntiqueClassic Pack Rats Who still has a copy of The Unbelievable Adshyventure a small booklet written by Robert Casey and published by Aeronca in the 1943 time frame Casey also wrote abollt the attack on the Aeronca flown by Roy Vitousek in his book Torpedo Juncshytion

Wally Baldwin also sent in some inforshymation concerning the incidents involving Aeroncas during the attack on Pearl Harshybor According to the information Wally has gathered the airplane shown in the April 1991 issue of VINTAGE A IRshyPLANE was shot at by the Japanese durshying the attack but it was being flown at that time by a female flight instructor (Tommie Tombestin) and her student James Duncan Duncan later went on to become an airline pilot Roy Vitousek was flying a different Defender that Sunday morning in December 1941 Wally also included a copy of an ad from Air Trails magazine Ju ly 1943 that highlights the Roy Vitousek incident

A BIT MORE AERONCA STUFF

Dear Buck

Greetings from Rush City MN I just pushed the Chief into t he hangar after

24 FEBRUARY 1993

P=1=SS=IT=T=degrJuck An information exchange column with input from our readers

by Buck Hilbert (EM 21 NC 5) PO Box 424

Union IL 60180

A Civil Air Patrol member points to the repaired fuselage longeron damaged by Japanese gunfire the morning of Dec 71941

Another view of the Defender shot up during the attack on Pearl Harbor Bob OHara took these photos while working on the movie Tora Tora Tora

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giving rides all day I can t remember the last time I ve had so much fun Ive got to tell you I thought I would never see this Chief again My father owned it from 1972 -1976 (I am only 22 now so I was between 2-6 years old then) He then sold it to a fellow in Hin ck ley MN From there it passed through to its present owner I look e d at it in mid-1991 It was a mess It had been recovered in 1982 but it had sat since then The engine had sat for some six years after reshybuild ( luckily someone had pickled it) With the help of my friend (who also has his IA) we put the rest of the pre-war bird toge ther Since then I have put about 40 hours on it giving rides to kids that are no o lder that I was when my father owned it What I am really trying to do with the airfield here is to get some activity brewing on an otherwise dead airstrip a nd it s working too Well if you are ever in the neighborhood stop into our new clubhouse - the coffees always hot and the conversation is always about flying

The picture was taken around midshyAugust 1992 Tha ts me with a certain 1941 Aeronca Chief 65-CA N36526 that I truly enjoy flying

James G Lockbaum Burnsville MN EAA 372424 AIC 16420

Sounds Good

Over to you Buck

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25