VA-Vol-32-No-2-Feb-2004

VOL 32 No 2 FEBRUARY 2004

2 VAA NEWS IHG Frautschy

4 2004 HALL OF FAME- NICK REZICH

6 PASS IT TO BUCKBuck Hilbert

7 MYSTERY PLANEHG Frautschy

8 THE VINTAGE INSTRUCTOR CHARTING A COURSE Doug Stewart

10 193 1 SECOND-HAND AIRPLANE Budd Davisson

15 JUST A FLIVVER KINDA GUY CHRIS PRICE AND HIS HEATH PARASOUBudd Davisson

20 2004 TYPE CLUB LIST

25 CALENDAR

27 NEW MEMBERS

28 CLASSIFIED ADS

sect)J~ IFF EAA PUBLICATIONS

Publisher

Editor-in-Chief

Executive Editor

New s Editor

Photography Staff

Advertising Coordinator

Advertising Sales

AdvertisingEditorial Assistant

Copy Editing

TOM POBEREZNY

scon SPANGLER

MIKE DIFRISCO

RIC REYNOLDS

JIM KOEPNICK

JULIE RUSSO

LOY HICKMAN

913-268-6646

ISABELLE WISKE

COLLEEN WALSH

KATHLEEN WITMAN

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

Executive Director Edi tor VAA Administrative Assistant Contributing Edi tors

HENRY G FRAUTSCHY THERESA BOOKS BUDD DAVISSON DOUG STEWART JOHN MILLER

Front Cover Chris Price leans into a gentle turn with his colorful Heath Parasol powered by a Continental A-40 engine EAA photo by Alex Brown EAA photo plane flown by Bruce Moore

Back Cover Can you imagine being only the third owner of an antique airplane that was once owned by its designer Jim Hammond can - his Aeronca C-3 was once owned by Jean Roche the original creator of the Aeronca light plane EAA photo by Jim Koepnick EAA photo plane flown by Janet Davidson

STRAIGHT Be LEVEL ESPIE BUTCH JOYCE

PRESIDENT VINTAGE ASSOCIATION

Feeling honored Its been chilly or downright cold in the

states north of us and the Carolinas

have been seeing a bit more colder

weather than we ve had in the last couple

of years Weve been Sitting a bit closer

to the fire until the weather breaks Its

making it a bit more of a challenge to

meet my completion date for the new inshy

strument panel in the Luscombe Ive

really been pushing to get it done by the

end of April or early May

Since the windshield and the engine

are removed I thought it would be a good

time to strip the interior and repaint it Oh

no you can see where this is heading The

skylight and side window plastic will be reshy

placed and it will look so good when its

done To get it completed Ive been watchshy

ing the thermometer Every day the

temperature has gone above 50 degrees

Ive headed out to the airport so I could

use the paint stripper and water to clean it

up All those little miscellaneous pieces

like the rudder pedals have been stripped

and cleaned the brace tubes from the top

of the cabin to the engine mount have

been cleaned and painted and the engine

mount has been cleaned inspected and

repainted Since I had to remove some of

the cabane structure in the cabin I will reshy

place the aileron cable pulleys with new

ball-bearing pulleys

It s exciting to see the project moving

forward and now that Im in the putting

parts back on mode I get even more moshy

tivated A number of rivets were drilled

out and as the new or replacement items

are installed the replacement rivets will

be bucked

I just keep moving along looking for a

stopping place In a couple of months I

hope to give you an update of my progress

Committing to giving my fellow members a

progress report means I have to keep at

it and I can stay focused on getting

N2628K back on flying status

Im fortunate I have a second airplane

to fly my Contemporary category Beech

Baron It s doing well and really is a wonshy

derful tool I can leave my home and be in

St Petersburg Florida in less than threeshy

and-a-half hours Thats less time than it

takes me to drive to the Greensboro airshy

port check in wait for the airplane fly to

another airport for my flight to Tampa and

then finally get a ride to my destination afshy

ter I get off the airliner Sure when you

have to go across the country to Phoenix

or Los Angeles it makes sense to fly the

airlines but not for shorter trips up and

down the East Coast The more time

added for security checks and other parts

of the airline experience the longer my

Baron trips can be and still be a better

deal as far as time is concerned Just as it

is for many of you my Luscombe is my fun

airplane I can fly around to all of the small

airports some public and many private

and visit friends Its been so long since

Ive had the Luscombe in the air I wonder

if theyll remember me I suppose I shouldshy

nt change the exterior color just yet

As I mentioned in previous columns I

was at the centennial celebration at the

Wright Brothers National Memorial It was

a remarkable event even with the uncoopshy

erative weather Now that Ive been home

for a month Ive read a number of acshy

counts of the event in a few other

publications including some comments reshy

garding the presidents attendance and

the temporary flight restriction over the

event during his speech We live in differshy

ent times and I wont comment further on

that aspect of the celebration

I WOUld however like to express a few

of my feelings about the presidents visit

Norma and I arrived early that morning

knowing that there would be extra security

in place for those of us who would be in the

area closest to the stage Even the press

had to go through this second level of secushy

rity Sure it slowed us down but nobody

around us seemed to mind too much I felt

much more secure after getting through the

Secret Service security check

While listening to the various speakers

before the presidents arrival the feeling

of being honored to be in Kitty Hawk at

this time came over me It had started to

rain not too long after we sat down and

by the time the large Marine CH-53E helishy

copters arrived in advance of the

president it was coming down hard The

rotors were whipping the rain around in

great sheets Just a minute later a pair of

white-topped Sikorsky SH-3s appeared beshy

Iowa very low ceiling After a quick

landing the president stepped out into a

rain shower and you could watch his arshy

rival on the large video screens set up on

the memorial grounds When he stood on

the steps of the Sikorsky and waved the

hair on the back of my neck stood on end

Driven to the stage in a big GMC SUV

he gave a 20-minute speech that honored

the Wrights as great Americans He didnt

have any political agenda items in his

speech and as a fellow aviator you got

the impression he was happy to be there

just like the rest of us It didnt hurt that

he stood on that stage in the rain and saw

more than 40000 aviators standing in the

rain and mUd

He wasn t able to stay for the first

flight attempt but he did come back in Air

Force One with the 747 making a slow

flyby of the memorial grounds as he

headed back to Washington

It looks like the temperature is getting

up to the point where I can get some work

done I should head out to the airport

Do yourself a favor and ask your friend

to join up with us Lets all pull in the

same direction for the good of aviation

Remember we are better together Join us

and have it all

Butch

VINTAGE AIRPLANE

VAA NEWS EAA Critical of Air Tour NPRM

Under pressure from EAA and other industry representatives the FAA has extended the comment peshyriod on its potentially devastating National Air Tour Safety Standards notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) 90 days to April 19 2004

Published in late October in the name of safety the NPRM imposes restrictive regulations on the air tour industry that the provided data do not support In preparing its official comments EAA is calling on FAA to recall the NPRM and propose a new one that incorporates the comments and concerns of the operators and public If enacted as now proposed the regulations would force a signifshyica nt number of owners and operators out of business and would ground historically significant airshycraft because their owners couldnt comply with them

The proposed rule is incomplete in that it fails to define many terms or incorporate fully all information needed to make the proposed rules valid for use EAA summarized The NPRM would place new prohibitive restrictions on private pilots prOVidshying charitable or community event flights There is little supporting data to justify the proposed wideshysweeping changes said Earl Lawrence EAA vice president for inshydustry and regulatory affairs

For example the proposed rule would require a 1920s-era airplane operated at a Midwestern nontowshyered airport to comply with the same operational and documentashytion requirements as a helicopter constructed under current requireshyments and operated in continuous service over the Grand Canyon Nashytional Park That indicates that the authors didnt follow past regulatory practice of producing regulations that are responsive to the wide variety of aircraft and operations conducted in the US EAA summarized

EAA is not insensitive to the conshycerns over air tour operation safety

FEBRUARY 2004

The worlds greatest general aviation event EAA AirVenture Oshkosh is launching the next century of flight at EAA AirVenture 2004 July 27shyAugust 2 at Wittman Regional Airport in Oshkosh Wisconsin The 52nd annual EAA gathering will AIRVEN14

o S H K a pay special attention to what lies ahead for the

~--world of flight along with recognizing the innovashytions that have led aviation to todays achievements

Over the past decade we have recognized the aviators and aircraft that changed the world over the past 100 years said EAA President and AirVenture Chairman Tom Poberezny This year EAA AirVenture is Launching the Next Censhytury of Flight by looking ahead to the innovations that build on this legacy Some of this new thinking is already becoming reality assuring that the next century of flight will be as remarkable as the first 100 years

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh has always been a home for aviation innovation and serves as an inspiration for those who see untapped potential in personal flight and in aviation in general Through the years many unique designs have debuted at the event In addition the people behind the advancements have been welcomed to share their knowledge and inspire others

Most of this knowledge exchange occurs in the more than 500 educational foshyrums seminars and workshops held during the week that cover the entire spectrum of flight Add the more than 700 exhibitors displaying their latest innovashytions and more than 10000 airplanes including the nearly 1000 vintage showplanes that dot the south end of Wittman Field and EAA AirVenture particishypants have an unlimited source of aviation inspiration

Details on specific EAA AirVenture activities as well as aircraft arrival and deshyparture procedures will be announced as they are finalized For the latest information visit wwwairventureorg Housing information is available through the Oshkosh Housing Hotline at 920235-3007 (Monday-Friday 830 am to 5 pm Central time)

voiced by both Congress and the President of Government and RegulashyNTSB prompted by a series of tory Affairs Earl Lawrence and crashes involving air tour operation Director of Aircraft Maintenance many of which occurred in Hawaii Daryl Lenz VAA Executive Director However EAA does object to the HG Frautschy is working with Lenz added restrictions proposed the lack and Lawrence on developing the list of supportive data for those addishy of approved substitutes tional restrictions and the confusing The committee works with the format in which the new restrictions FAA Small Airplane Directorate to deshywere incorporated into the FARs in velop materials that help small this NPRM aircraft owners maintain and restore

their aircraft EAA Leads Aging Aircraft Discussion centered on developing Discussion an AC that will provide aircraft ownshy

Work on an FAA Advisory Circular ers with a common-sense document (AC) for documenting approved subshy that will make it easier to obtain apshystitute standard parts and materials provals for replacement parts while was conducted at a December meetshy they are maintaining their aircraft ing of the FAA Aging Aircraft Ad Hoc The committee hopes to develop a Committee held in Kansas City Misshy draft AC for FAA internal review in souri Representing EAA were Vice continued on page 27

2

VAAs Friends of The Red Barn VAA Convention Fund Raising Program

special name badge recognizing tion is a major participant in the

The Vintage Aircraft Associashyyour level of participation During

Worlds Largest Annual Sport Avishy AirVenture youll have access to ation Event - EAA AirVenture the Red Barn Volunteer CenshyOshkosh The Vintage Division ter a nice place to cool off hosts and parks over 2000 vinshy Gold Level contributors tage airplanes each year from the will also r eceive a pair of cer shyRed Barn area of Wittman Field south to the perimeter tificates each good for a flight on EAAs Ford of the airport Trimotor redeemable during AirVenture or during

The financial support for the various activities in the summer flying season at Pioneer Airport Silver connection with the weeklong event in the VAA Red Level contributors will receive one certificate Barn area is principally derived from the Vintage Airshy for a flighat on EAAs Ford Trimotor craft Associations Friends of the Red Barn program This is a grand opportunity for all Vintage members

This fund raising program is an annual affair beginshy to join together as key financial supporters of the Vinshyning each year on July 1 and end ing June 30 of the tage Division It will be a truly rewarding experience fo llowing year This years campaign is well underway for each of us as individ uals to be part of supporting with contributions already arriving here at VAA HQ the finest gathering of Antique Classic and ContemshyOur thanks to those of you who have already sent in porary airplanes in the world your 2004 contributions Wont you please join those of us who recognize the

You can join in as well There will be three levels of tremendously valuable key role the Vintage Aircraft Assoshygifts and gift recognition ciation has played in preserving the great grass roots and

Vintage Gold Level - $60000 and above gift general aviation airplanes of the last 100 years Your Vintage Silver Level - $30000 gift participation in EAAs Vintage Aircraft AssociashyVintage Bronze Level - $10000 gift tion Friends of the Red Barn will help insure the Each contribution at one of these levels entitles very finest in AirVenture Oshkosh Vintage Red

you to a Certificate of Appreciation from the Divishy Barn programs sion Your name will be listed as a contributor in For those of you who wish to contribute weve Vintage Airplane magazine on the VAA website included a copy of the contribution form Feel free and on a special display at the VAA Red Barn to copy it and mail it to VAA headquarters with during AirVenture You will also be presented with a your donation Thank you

--~-- - ------- - --- -- ----------------- - - - ----- -- - - - -- -- - - - - ----- --- - --- - - - ---- - ---------- - --- - - - ----- - ------

VAA Friends of the Red Barn Name______________________________________________ EAA_______________VAA ______________

Address____________________________________________________________________________________

CityStateZip_______________________________________________________________________________ Phone_____________________________________E-Mail_________________________________________

Please choose your level of participation

_ Vintage Gold Level Gift - $60000 Mail your contribution to _ Vintage Silver Level Gift - $30000 EM _ Vintage Bronze Level Gift - $10000 VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOC o Payment Enclosed o Please Charge my credit card (below) PO Box 3086 Credit Card Number ______________________ Expiration Date ___________ OSHKOSH WI 54903-3086 Signature______________________________

00 you or your spouse work for a matching gift company If so this gift may qualify for a matching donation Please ask your Human Reshysources department for the appropriate form Name of Company __________________________

The Vintage Aircraft Association is a non-profit educational organization under IRS SOlc3 rules Under Federal Law the deduction from Federal Inshycome tax for charitable contributions is limited to the amount by which any money (and the value of any property other than money) contributed exceeds the value of the goods or services provided in eXChange for the contribution An approp riate receipt acknowledging your gift will be sent to you for IRS gift reporting reasons

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

2003 VINTAGE HALL OF FAME

NICK REZICH

A viation is often a famshyily interest and that was certainly true on the south side of

Chicago where the Rezich family was living during the golden age of aviation The boys Frank Nick and Mike haunted the nearby Chicago Municipal Airport (later Midway Airport) and built rubbershypowered models of many of the airplanes of the day

Nick Rezich soloed a Waco RNF in 1933 at age 14 beginning a lifelong career in-and love ofshyfull-size aviation He worked for Benny Howard at Howard Aircraft in Chicago and attained the posishytion of plant manager before being pressed into military service in World War II

Following the war he founded

Nicks other passion in life besides airpLanes was playing the drums His role model was Gene Krupa All the brothers were musically inclined with Mike playing trumpet and Frank playing the saxophone In high school they were known as the Rezich Orchestra

The voice ofEAA at the 1970 Joliet air show sponsored by EAA Chapters 15 101 and 75 The Voice ofEAA was silenced a decade later in 1981 after a battle with throat cancer

Nicks love ofmusic heLped him when he opened the Pylon Club on 63rd Street on the south side of Chicago Its aviation decor and proxshy

imity to Midway MEMBERSilP CARD Airport made it

a favorite ofloshycals and visiting

o aviators for Z nearly a decade

L __--~_~~~~=Jr__====~ after WWII

4 FEBRUARY 2004

Nick and his wife Joanne in front of the family Travel Air D-4-D used for Nicks air show act and for skywriting Joanne and Nick were marshyried in 19S0

Seven-year-old Frank lO-year-old Nick (mugging for the camera) and lS-year-old Mike Rezich behind the family home on Laflin Avenue in Chicago circa 1930 The model on the ground in front of the boys is the Spirit ofst Louis

The very first airplane owned by the Rezich family was this Piper E-2 Cub which was purchased by Mike and based at the Ashburn airport in 1936 Since 1936 the family has owned 26 different airplanes

By the time it was possible for Nick to buy an airplane in 1940 World War II was on the horizon Here s Nicks fashyvorite airplane his brand-new Culver Cadet at Howell airport Its blue and silver

and operated the famous aviationshythemed tavern near Midway Airport the Pylon Club

With his brother Frank he deshysigned and built the Rezich Brothers Special a Goodyear-class racer in the late 1940s The airshyplane would be one of the first donations to the EAA Museum in Hales Corners

Nick continued to build on his flying skills and flew charter for Bluebird Air Service at Midway in various planes including a Waspshypowered Bellanca and a Lockheed

12 He also did barnstorming with his brothers in the family Travel Air and Pitcairn

After the war he also flew for Morton Salt and International Harshyvester and began taking on skywriting jobs

He served as the president of the OX-5 Aviation Pioneers and Nick (EAA 225) was a strong supporter of EAA during its early days proshymoting the organization at the Pylon Club and participating in early fly-ins and air shows He ofshyten flew and announced for free

since early EAA Chapter budgets were so lean that it was hard to even come up with the funds to buy awards for the participants

He also used his booming voice over the public address system to describe the maneuvers the pilots were flying and soon became known as the Voice of EAA He was also the master of ceremonies for many of the early EAA evening programs especially during the Rockford era

In the early 1950s Nick moved continued on page 26

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

PASS IT TO BUCK

BY EE BUCK HILBERT EAA 21 VAA 5 PO Box 424 UNION IL 60180

Aging aircraft as well as aging pilots and mechanics

Im beginning to feel like an ancient out-of-touch left-out something or other

Every time I pick up an aviation magazine its full of hi-tech writeshyups that I have a hard time understanding Modern instrumenshytation glass panels sophisticated navigation and collision avoidance systems engine monitors fuel flow in-flight entertainment systems aushytopilots you name it

These all have nothing to do with the flivvers and the fun flyin depicted in this issue Where is the fun and the enjoyment-the sense of adventure the thrill of flying that got me into this to beshygin with

Well in our Vintage organizashytion its still there There is still a core group out there that feels a sense of adventure the thrill of pure flying that is so enjoyable and a delight to the senses They as I do only want release from the hi-tech world and enjoy the simshyplicity of turning a switch to get things going

No programming No perusing the book to find coordinates Just light the fire and go

There is a downside to this simshyplicity though The moderns are sometimes very tolerant of we grandfathers surprisingly so Sometimes I relish the pipe and slippers treatment and the resigshynation they show this old man when l dont understand all the things they talk about On the other hand I feel left out confused and as a stranger in my own backyard

FEBRUARY 2004

When the current owner of a neat old Cessna 180 calls and asks what shape my airstrip is in how long what the coordinates are and then tells me a 10-knot crossshywind is a problem for him and elects to drive in I cant but wonshyder He oohs and aahs over my C-3 and the Fleet and then shakes his head in amazement that there are no electrical systems and nothing in the panel

How can I possibly go anyshywhere without anything like that he wonders

Well I have no intention of goshying anywhere I fly for the fun and the pleasure of just being airshyborne looking at the local territory waving at my neighbors and friends and maybe taking someone for a ride

My Model T of an airplane gives me all that I want That first takeoff is really all the reward I need but the subsequent landing and the pure pleasure of what I just accomplished is heaven in itself

Lately too I find myself sitting in the recliner with more than 30 years of the EAA Vintage publications at my side feet up thumbing through the old articles Re-reading long ago written articles some written by long-departed enthusiasts trying to pass on their wisdom and experishyence to others who might have a similar interest

Ive often felt that mans greatshyest invention was the printing press With that invention it was possible to record and pass on for posterity a mans experiences Im

taking advantage of this when I sit in my recliner and go through the collections of the past 30-plus years I start with the stack on one side and as I read through I stack them on the other side When I complete the transfer from the one side to the other I start in all over again

If it were possible for the neoshyphyte Vintage member to push away from his computer with all its pop-ups and nonsensical advershytising and take time to read through this collection of lore and knowledge his reward would be the assimilation of what was learned the hard way by a lot of people who wanted to pass on their experience It would satisfy the thirst that I hear every day in phone calls from people calling for information

I know many of you are not privy to this collection as I am but we do have our EAA Library and lately a CD with all the EAA Sport Aviation articles on it some of which pertain to our kind of activities It is my hope that one day and soon a simshyilar CD for the Vintage publications will exist

Meanwhile though on occasion your editor HG the staff and I will select one of these old artishycles we feel might be of interest and republish it

Im asking for your comments on this Do you feel this would be a worthwhile effort

With that Its over to you I(

(( ~tirJ 6

earlymid 20s My granddad said it was quite a performer especially when you adjusted the valves on the old OX to 0 clearance to get an exshytra 100 rpm Wow can you imagine 1500 rpm

Joe Maguire Canton Ohio

BY HG FRAUTSCHY Richard S Allen of Lewiston Idaho looked up the abstract on

NOVEMBERS MYSTERY ANSWER the airplane and came up with the following details

The Standard J-1 was Serial No N-109 powered by a Curtiss OX-5 Serial Number 3972 It didnt last long in civilian hands Sold by the Nicholas-Beazley Airplane Co of Marshall Missouri on March 20 1927 it was sold on June 27 to a partnership of George Kimball and Glen Sayers ofAdair Illinois [In his correspondence member Lynn Towns ofHolt Michigan adds the name of Herman Chenoweth of Table Grove Illinois to the partnership It was reported that not even a month later on July 13 1927 that it was comshy

Our November Mystery Plane The November Mystery Plane is a pletely destroyed a few days ago tied supplied by Jim Haynes was a J-1 Standard with the fuselage shortshy to a fence and hit by a strong windshyfairly common airplane in its day ened and the wings clipped A frontal storm turned over and completely but this one was a bit different view of it would reveal the upper and destroyed than the rest As a few of our memshy lower wings are of equal length and Other correct answers were reshybers noted it had both the wings the airfoil was also modified with ceived from Thomas Lymburn and fuselage modified more camber for a high lift airfoil Princeton Minnesota and John

This was a very popular mod in the Rowles Bemidji Minnesota

THIS MONTHS MYSTERY PLANE COMES TO US FROM LOUIS P KING OF HOUSTON TEXAS BE CAREFUL ITS NOT EXACTLY WHAT YOU THINK IT IS

SEND YOUR ANSWER TO EAA VINTAGE AIRshy

PLANE PO Box 308 6 OSHKOSH WI 54903-3086 YOUR ANSWER NEEDS TO BE IN

NO LATER THAN MARCH 102004 FOR INCLUshy

SION IN THE MAY 2004 ISSUE OF Vintage Airplane

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7