Vintage Airplane - Jul 2008

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jul 2008

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2/44

GEOFF RO ISON

PRES IDENT VINTAGE IRCR FT ASSOCIATON

It s

irVenture time

I

t's here. For aviators around the

globe,

the month

of July always

brings EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

to

mind. Most everyone of these

aviators will wish

he

or she were go

ing to be able to attend, but for var

ied reasons, many are never able to

make

it. Here's

hoping

this

is

the

year for you! I still remember my

first EAA

convention in

1984; I re

ally thought it would likely turn out

to be a one-time visit for me. Fortu

nately, the proverbial Oshkosh bug

bit

me pretty

hard. So far, I

have

not

missed a single Oshkosh since

my

first,

and

each of

them

has been

very enjoyable. But, some members

are not as fortunate as I am in be

ing able

to

come

to

this great event

every year. Even if you can get here

only once, you really owe it to your

self

to

experience

this

amazing cel

ebration of the Spirit of Aviation.

One

of

the

great benefits

of mem

bership

is

the opportunity

to

serve

yo ur fellow members as a Vintage

volunteer during EAA AirVenture.

So, as we typically do

each

year in

July, here's a

partial

list

of

names

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh 2008, the

World's Greatest Aviation Celebration,

is

July

28

through August 3 2008.

VAA is about participation:

Be

a

member!

Be

a volunteer!

Be

there!

Let's all pull in

the

same direc

tion for

the

good

of aviation. Re

member

,

we

are

better together.

Join us and have it all.

Vintage ircraft

ssociation

chairpeople

Convention Management

Geoff Robison, chairman,

chief7025@ao i .com

219 493 4724

Butch Joyce, vice-chairman,

wind-

sock@aoi .com 336 427 0971

Convention Management

Field

Operation

s

George, Daubner, Vice Chairman,

vaaf/[email protected]

414-673-5885

Aerogram

Rob Kamsch,

chairman,

336-668-3410

VAA ludging/Awards

Dave Clark, VAA

chief

judge,

[email protected]

317-839-4500

C

omputer Operations

Merchandise

Bob Lumley, chairman,

i

ump

[email protected]

262 782 2633

Metal Forming Workshol)

Steve Nesse, chairman,

[email protected]

507-373-1674

Parking and Safet

y

Michael Kosta,

chairman,

cubf/[email protected] 303 673 9355

Participant Plaques

Jack Cope land ,

chairman,

cope

[email protected]

508 393 4775

Past Grand

Champions

Steve Krog, chairman,

[email protected] 262-966-7627

Saf

e

Flying

Ken Morris, chairman,

Taiidragger7W@aoi .

com

815 547 3991

Security

Tim Fox, chairman,

tim@{ly

ingshepherds.com

260-486-8126

Tall

Pines Cafe

Steve Nesse,

chairman,

[email protected] 507-373-1674

Toni

's

Trolley

Jim Brown, chairman,

414-895-6282

Tour

Tram

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:vaaf/[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:cubf/[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/tim@%7Blyingshepherds.comhttp:///reader/full/tim@%7Blyingshepherds.comhttp:///reader/full/tim@%7Blyingshepherds.comhttp:///reader/full/tim@%7Blyingshepherds.comhttp:///reader/full/tim@%7Blyingshepherds.commailto:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:vaaf/[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:cubf/[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:[email protected]:///reader/full/tim@%7Blyingshepherds.commailto:[email protected]


3/44

J U L Y

VOL.

36 ,

NO.7

2008

CONTENTS

Fe

Straight & Level

It

s

Air

Ve

nture time

by Geoff Robison

2 News

6 Aeromail

8

Vernon's

CAA

Airmaster

The Bronze Age Outs

tandin

g Closed Cockpit Monoplane

by Nick Hurm

13

The Flight of

the June

Bug

The centennial of Gle

nn

Curtiss' epic flight of July 4, 1908

by H

.G

.

Fraut

s

ch

y

r

_--

2 Light Plane Heritage

Re

member the Klemm

by Bob Whittier

26

The Pratt &

Whitney

Wasp

The history of a most remarkable engine

by Joe Hayn

es

32

Mystery Plane

by H.G . Frautschy

34 The Vintage Instructor

The ID

A"

by Doug Stewart

8 Classified Ads

ST FF

EAA

Publishe r

Tom Poberezny

Directo r of EAA Publications David Hipschman

Executive

D

irector/Edi

t

or

H

.G.

Fra

utschy

EAA

Art Direc tor

Oliv ia

P

Trabbo ld


4/44

I

T

o help members who

Theater

"

1

fly

in to understand In The

West Side Woods

the layout of the con

~ r

))

Vintage

Aircraft

An t

ique

amping

vention area administered

by VAA, we've

prepared

this simplified map.

As

you

can

see,

camping

starts

at

0 ,

',..

Row

74 on

the

east side of

Type Club s

Parking

the main north/south road

~ S t a r t s a t

(Wittman Road), with

the

- . - - Row 74

areas

to the

north of that

Tall Pines

line

set

up to handle

dis

- . - -

Cafe

play-only vintage aircraft.

Near Ultralights

That's why you may

see

open areas as you taxi south

to your camping location.

Once

you arrive, you'll

need

to

register

your

air

craft and/or campsite.

In

addition to

roving

regis

Row 78

EAST

SIDE

tration vehicles,

there is

-

VAA CAM PING AND PARK ING

one main

aircraft registra

STARTS H

ERE.

CONTINUES TO

ROW

150

tion

building, located just

south

of

the

Red Barn (see

map).

The

EAA

convention

campgrounds

are

private

campgrounds and are

not open to non-EAA members.

Each

campsite must

be registered

Flight

Planning for

Your E AirVenture

Trip

As an

EAA

member

(an

important

part of

your

VAA

membership),

you

can use

Parking

))

t ~ v

o

Type Club

&

Showers Workshop Tents

Showplane/Campe r (\ (\ ....-\

Reg istra

tio

n V V V

Red

{ H anga r

D

Ba

rn

Cafe

- parked alo ng road

and in rows

60

& 61.

V

AA

Large Special

Inte rest

Aircr

aft/

Ant iques

o VAA

VAA PARK ING -

No Camping

Operat ions

Shack

Row 62 through Row 77

Past Grand

Ch

ampions

Rows 60

Row 50

& 61

Anl

iqu,

POint

-----'---'- -'--------

- - - - -- -

by a current

EAA

member.

Another immediate benefit

of

VAA membership is your

free

VAA

AirVenture

Oshkosh

2008 Partici

pant

Plaque, which

you

can pick

Get Your

E AirVenture 2008

NOTAM Booklet

Printed copies of

the

EAA

Air

Venture Oshkosh 2008 Notice to

Airmen

(NOTAM)

can be ordered

by

calling

EAA

Membership Ser

vices at 800-564-6322, or you

can

download

it directly from

the

Web

D

omm

Ce

nte r

up in the

rear of

the

Red Barn.

EAA

and

VAA

memberships are available

at

both aircraft

registration

and

at

the

membership

booth

located

northeast of

the Red

Barn.

o 2 8 It \

/1mVENTURE ~

OS KOS

-

-ff i -

NOTAM

The Worfcf5

Greatest

Aviation Celebration TU

http://www.airventure.orgi20081%28lying/http://www.airventure.orgi20081%28lying/http://www.airventure.orgi20081%28lying/


5/44

Grass Runways

and Fuel

Also on our VAA website,

we

publish a list created by

VAA

mem

ber

Kris

Kortokrax.

Kris

flies

a variety of old biplanes

that are more pleasant to fly when

they are

flown

from grass strips,

and he and

his buddies from Shel

byville, Illinois, do their best to keep

the

old biplanes

happy

(and keep

tire wear to a minimum) by flying

cross-country

from

grass strip to

grass strip. Finding fuel facilities can

be a challenge these days, and

Kris

has distilled this airport information

to be useful for like-minded grass

runway-preferring pilots. This data

was

current

as of the beginning of

the year, and

we'd

suggest calling

ahead to confirm

fuel availability

and hours of operation. I f you have

any changes or additions, drop us

an e-mail here at vintageaircra t@eaa.

org and we'll forward it to Kris.

Our thanks to

Kris

for sharing his

list. Let us know if you find it useful

Breakfast

and a Briefing

The

VAA Tall Pines Cafe will be

in operation

again

this

year

with

an

expanded schedule prior to

convention,

and

fly-in-style pan

cake breakfasts during EAA AirVen

ture. Starting on Friday morning,

July 25,

and continuing through

Sunday, July 27,

the

VAA Tall Pines

Cafe will

be

open for breakfast

(6:30-9:30 a.m.) and dinner 4 :30

7:30 p.m.).

Starting

Monday,

July

28,

only

breakfast will

be

served

at

the Tall Pines Cafe (6:00-9:30 a.m.).

Just

to the north,

an FAA

Flight

name badge. We can also point out

the location for the Ford Tri-Motor

rides.

f

you have any questions,

feel free to ask for

Jillian

Rooker,

the

VAA

administrative assistant.

I f

you need to reach her in advance of

your arrival, call her

at

EAA

head

quarters, 920-426-6110.

Our

thanks to each

of you

who have contributed

to the VAA

Friends of the Red Barn 2008 cam

paign. We'll have the list of con

tributors in

next

month's edition of

Vintage

Airplane

VAA Message Center

I f you would like to leave a mes

sage for

people

you

know

who

frequent the VAA Red Barn, stop

by the information desk. You

can

write them a message in our "note

book on a string,"

and

we'll post

their

name

on

the marker board so

they'll know there's a message wait

ing

for

them.

Sure, cellular

phones

and walkie-talkies are great,

but

sometimes

nothing works better

than a hand-scribbled note

VAA Picnic

Tickets for the annual VAA picniC

to be held Wednesday, July 30, at

the Nature Center will be available

for sale at the VAA Red Barn prior to

the

start of EAA AirVenture. Tickets

must be purchased in advance so we

know how much food to order. The

delicious meal will

be

served after

5:30 p.m. Trams will begin leaving

the VAA Red Barn

around

5 p.m.

and will make return trips after the

picnic. Type clubs may hold their

lot of effort to sponsor this event .

Shawano's residents do a great job

of hosting us, and we hope

you'll

help

us thank Shawano

by

joining

us

on the

flight.

VAA Red Barn Store

The

VAA Red Barn Store, chock

full of VAA logo merchandise and

other great gear, will be open with

expanded hours all week

long,

Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m.

until

6 p.m. Early-bird arrivals can

shop on the

previous weekend

as

well,

during

limited hours. Show

your VAA membership card (or your

receipt showing you joined

VAA

at

the convention),

and

you'll receive

a 10 percent discount.

When you first visit the Red Barn

store, check to see when there will

be a special VAA members-only sale.

Bring your V

AA

card to the sale, and

save with

additional discounts. See

you there

VAA Volunteer Opportunities

Are you an ace pancake flip

per?

I f

you're not

one

yet, we can

help

The

VAA Tall Pines Cafe is

looking for volunteers who can


6/44

VAA Judging Categories

The VAA s

internationally

recog

nized judging categories are:

• Antique: Aircraft built prior

to

September 1, 1945

• Classic:

September

1, 1945,

December 31, 1955

•

Contemporary:

January

1,

1956, - December 31, 1970

Any aircraft built within

those

years is eligible

to

park in

the

Show

plane parking and camping

areas.

f you wish to have your

aircraft

judged, let

the volunteer

know

when

you register your aircraft

and

camping area.

f

you

want

your air

craft

to

be judged

by VAA

volunteer

judges,

you need to be a

current

Vintage Aircraft Association mem

ber.

VAA

contributes

a

significant

portion

of

the costs related to the

EAA awards

that

are

presented to

the

award winners.

Designated Smoking

Areas Near

Flightline

Smoking

on the

flightline at

EAA

AirVenture is prohibited

because

it's a hazard to all aircraft. There are

several

designated

smoking

areas

with

butt cans along the flightline,

well away from aircraft

and

refuel

ing operations.

Designated smoking

areas will

be south of the ultralight runway;

near the Hangar

Cafe;

near the

Warbirds area

(northeast

corner of

Audrey Lane

and

Eide Avenue);

the

Wearhouse flag pole area;

the

shade

pavilion north of

the

control tower;

and

near

the

Ultralight

Barn. Lo

A

eroplane

Factory volunteer Ron Kempka shows (I to r) Roger

White

, Beverly

Cu

shman

,

Sam

James, Reed

McCall

,

and Bruce Leighfield how to tie

a

knot.

Find u r

Favorite

Presentations

and

Workshops

Online

With hundreds of

the

world's leading aviation authorities delivering

close

to

1,000

individual

presentations at

nearly

3S

locations spread

throughout the expansive EAA convention grounds, planning

your

week

at

EAA

AirVenture Oshkosh 2008

can

be,

in

a word, challenging.

Fret

not

, eager aviation enthusiasts, because you can

plan your

visit

to the World's Greatest Aviation

Celebration with

EAA s

integrated

presentations

and

workshops schedule database,

and the

preliminary

version

is now

available at www AirVenture org/forums

The database will

include

all the venues, subjects, topics,

and

pre

senters from not only forums and

workshops

,

but

also Warbirds in

Review, KidVenture, Museum Speaker Showcase, Authors Corner, The

ater

in the

Woods, special at

the

aircraft presentations

on

AeroShell

Square,

and

more. You

can

search for activities by date, interes t level

(such as Aerobatics or Homebuilding),

name

of presenter, location, or

simply by keyword. f it's on a schedule, it'll be here, allowing you

to

create custom searches to conveniently preplan your AirVenture stay.

The process

of

confirming schedules,

making

modifications, and

adding new presentations

is

continuing,

so check back

often

for

the

latest updates.

tion,

please

vote for two officers vice

and

information.

and 7 directors.

I f

you d prefer

to

Visitors can

obtain general in

http://www.airventure.org/forumshttp://www.airventure.org/forums


7/44

More

on the Web

Visit www.AirVenture.org for more

information

on EAA

AirVenture 2008.

AirVenture Is

Almost Here

•• •

Are You

Ready?

We've made it easy

to

learn the

status

of, for

example,

Oshkosh

area accommodations, with new

pages

on the

Web.

Just

a few short weeks from

now,

many

of you will

make

the

annual pilgrimage to Oshkosh for

EAA

AirVenture 2008.

Are

you

ready? Here

are

several handy

online

tools on the newly

rede

signed

AirVenture website

that

can

help

you

take

care of

any

last-minute

concerns.

•

For

pilots flying in: www AirVenlure

.

org/200B/{lying/index .html

Arrival procedures, ground op

erations, parking,

even a Special

Offers for Pilots

interactive

map

www.AirVenture.org/200B/{lying/al -

ternate_airports.html) help get you

here and take you home.

• For

lodging: www.AirVenture.

From the massive Boeing Dream

lifter to

the small

but

fast Neme

sis NXT .

more military

aircraft

than

you ve ever

seen

o

ut

side

an

invasion, including F-22 Raptors,

the

V-22 Osprey,

and

those great

vintage warbirds . . . and the iconic

Goodyear

blimp

find

out

what

you ll want to

see

at AirVenture

this year.

• www.AirVenture.org/200B/news/

OB060S_presentations html Put

more

than

a

thousand pr esen

ta

tions, workshops,

and other

sched

uled events at your fingertips.

SPOT to Offer

Free

Messengers

for EAA Members

Attending AirVenture

EAA members

attending

EAA

AirVenture Osh

kosh 2008 are

eligible

to

re

ceive

a free

SPOT Satel

lite Messenger

th rough an

exclusive offer

from

SPOT

Inc.

available

only at

Oshkosh.

SPOT

Inc.

will give

away SPOT Satellite Messengers

a

169 .99 value)

to current

EAA

members when they

subscribe

to

a one-year satellite service package

for 149.98

at

AirVenture.

SPOT uses

the GPS

network to

pinpoint

a

user s location, then

transmits

that

information

to

friends, family, or

an

emergency

re-

Upcoming Major

Fly-Ins

Arlington Northwest Fly-In

Arlington MuniCipal Airport AWO),

Arlington, Washington

July 9-13, 2008

www.N

W

AA.org

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Wittman Regional Airport OSH),

Oshkosh, Wisconsin

July 28 -August

3,

2008

www.AirVenture.org

Mid

-Eastern Regional Fly-In

Mansfield Lahm Reg ional Airport

(MFD), Mansfield, Ohio

August 23 24 , 2008

www.MERFI.info

Southeast Regional Fly-In

Middleton Field Airport GZH) ,

Evergreen, Alabama

October 24 -26 , 2008

www.SER I .org

Rocky Mountain Regional Fly-In

(New Date)

Front

Ra

nge Airport

FTG)

, Denver

(Watkins) , Colorado

September 19-21 , 2008

Coppersta te Regional Fly-In

Casa Grande Municipal Airport CGZ) ,

Casa Grande, Arizona

October 23-26, 2008

www. Coppers tate.org

u.S.

Sport

Aviation Expo

Sebring Regional Airport

SEF),

Sebring, Florida

January

22

-25 , 2009

www.Sport-Aviation- xpo .com

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8/44

SEND

YOUR

COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS TO:

VAA

LETTERS

TO

THE EDITOR

P.O.

Box 3086

OSHKOSH, WI 54903-3086

OR

YOU

CAN

E-MAIL THEM TO:

[email protected]

Additional Information on

while

it

was

still owned by the

Funk Serial Number

Funk brothers,

and

while

the

bulk

Al Ball of

Santa

Paula, Califor of it was rescued from the fire, there

nia, who owned serial number 2 was significant damage done to it .

for 40 years, called to tell us

that According to

evidence found

on

the airplane

was built

out

of

the the

parts of serial

number I,

it was

salvaged parts of serial number 1.

originally

painted lemon yellow,

No.1 was

caught in

a

hangar

fire with

black numbers. AI

Ball says

the color was close

to

the color of

a

yellow

writing pad-lighter in

tone than Cub Yellow, but not a

light

yellow. He pointed out

that

when

he

restored

the

airplane he

didn t

repaint

the

airplane in

its

original

yellow color,

but chose

a

dark-red-with-black-trim scheme

that

is

closer to the production

Funk airplanes.

The split nosebowl seen on the

first

airplane

was used

on the

sec

ond

version, but the

distinctive

center divider was removed at some

point, so

the opening

appears very

different than

the

original.

Just prior to World

War II, the

Northrop Technical

Institute took

ownership of

the

airplane,

and

after

the war it was sold to a Los Ange

les-area pilot.

The pilot

who pur

chased

it

from NT flew it briefly,

but

because

the

cooling system was

so clogged

with

scale

and

rust after

sitting for a number of years, the

engine would overheat soon

after

takeoff. After Al Ball

restored

the

engine

and airframe,

he

put

about

500

hours on

it before selling it

to

Fred

Patterson

and the

Oakland

Aviation

Museum

(also

known

as

the

Western Aerospace Museum) in

Oakland, California.

Al

is currently restoring

an Air &

Space 18A autogyro

and

expects

to

have it flying

within

a year.

WH T OUR MEM B RS

RE

RESTORING

Are you nearing completion of a restoration? Or

is it done and you're busy flying and showing it off?

If so, we'd like

to

hear from you. Send us a 4-by

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


9/44

• 700

mW

loud

audio

with built-in BTL amplifier

• 18 hour* Lithium-Ion battery pack, 2000

mAh

Optional BC 179

• Securely

holds &


10/44


11/44


12/44

Here s the Interior of the

Airmaster, complete with tan

whipcord upholstery.


13/44

ing

the war, including airway de

velopment, which could have been

a likely job for 237E.

Airmasters were exceptional

camera

planes

because

of

their

rock-solid

stability

.

One

former

owner

joked the Airmaster can cut

through

turbulence like a DC-3 .

Of the 186 built, 23 were sold or

converted

by the factory for aerial

photography.

N237E was not

one

of them

on

record; however, cam

era

equipment

was installed.

I looked

in

the

belly,

and the

holes were still

there in

the

wood

for the

big

camera/ said West

Coast antiquer Don

Carter,

who

owned

the

airplane from 1961 to


14/44

to have

an

aerial

photography

busi

ness he used

the

plane for.

"He claimed they went

to

20,000

feet doing high-altitude photogra

phy.

That's with two

guys-pilot

and

camera operator,

and one of

those big Fairchild cameras.

I

said,

'How long

did

it

take you

to get

there?' He said, 'Well, we

brought

our lunches along!'"

The president of Security was avi

ation and parachute pioneer

John

Maggi,

who owned

the

airplane

from 1948 to 1955. Maggi was

one

of the

first air

show

sky

divers

we're talking

the 1920s-and

later

flew Curtiss Helldivers

in

the Ma

rines during World War II. He was

voted into the Aviation Pioneer Hall

of Fame in 1998.

The airplane went

through

a few

owners before Carter bought the

plane. He said the airplane was in

good condition except for one glaring

problem. Someone repainted it.

it,

he

was able

to

keep the airplane

ding-free.

You

want to keep the thing going

straight

on

landing and takeoff," Coe

said. "The tail

is

really heavy.

If

you

]

I

kept thinking,

get the

thing out

of alignment, you

can put it in the weeds really

easy.

I'm

proud in the fact that all of the years I

flew

it,

I

never put it in the weeds."

Heyrman

and

Baeten also got

some

flying advice

from

another

Airmaster expert, 98-year-old Mort

Brown, who was

Cessna's

chief

production test pilot

from 1939

until

1972.

"I

called Mort Brown and asked

him

if there were

any

quirks," Baeten

said. "He

told me

the

airplane

is

pretty straightforward. Come across

the fence

at

75

i f you two-point it

and

80-85 i f you're going

to

wheel

land it."

Baeten said during the 22-hour

trek back,

the

165 Warner

sounded

good,

burning

8 gallons

an hour

at

1850 rpm. They averaged 120 mph.

That's

pretty

good efficiency

today

from the airplane once deemed the

world's most efficient airplane."

Back home, Heyrman said every

,


15/44

BY

H.G. FRAUTSCHY

I

t had been a long, muggy summer day in up

state New

York.

The

humid

air hung in

the

val

ley southwest of Hammondsport until it could

hold

no

more, and the crowds assembled on

the

grounds of Stony Brook Farm

and the

Pleasant

Valley Wine

Company had to endure

a few rum

bling

thunderstorms

that

afternoon.

Many had

been there since dawn, expecting to see a remark

able

sight-a

local man, already famous for his ex

ploits

on

bicycles and motorcycles, was going to fly

nearly a mile

through the

air.

A few days before that hot, muggy afternoon,

Glenn

Hammond

Curtiss

had

stepped aboard a

train

bound

for Washington, D.C. He

and

Thomas

Selfridge were

to

meet with officials of the Aero

Club of America. He

and Selfridge were members

of

the

Aerial Experiment Association AEA), a small

group of accomplished aeronautical experimenters

A.

O.

BELL,

r. W.

BALDWIN, J. A.

D. MoCURDY,

O. H.

CURTISS ...

T.

E.

8ELFRIDOE

.

I .

I IUIIDII

, AD.II .I U,101 or r .

I .

IILraIDU.

DIO'

1

.

FLn iB

IUOB I

RE

.

.. LIOATIOI rlLlD

API . I , 110 .

1,011 , 106.

Patented Dec.

5,

1911.

., anu-un? I .


16/44

A. G. BELL, F.

W.

BALDWIN ,

J.

A.

D.

McCURDY,

G.

H. CURTISS

;

T.

E.

SELFRIDGE.

£

..

. lliLP'lIDGZ.

AD_ 111 101

or f . E.

I t

LtIJDOt . DJ:O ' D

FLYING

liA

CHINE•

PPLIOiTIO.

U

D

HI

. 8, 1909 .

1,011,106.

Patented Dec. 5, 1911.

"

I IUTI

-

IBEET

,

J

X

< \)

. ~ ~

10

~ ~ o

,

,

\

1\

-

,

-

\

The June Bug

Is

prepared for flight on a

warm

, muggy Satur

day,

the

Fourth of

July

, 1908.

Glenn

Curtiss

stand

s with his

hands on his hips, garters for his shirt sleeves holdin g his

cuffs

above

the elbow on the

summe

r

day

.

Draw a crowd

to

Hammondsport and prove to the world

that we

can

really fly."

In Washington, Curtiss

and

Selfridge told

the

officials

of the Aero Club that they intended

to compete

for the

Scientific American trophy. Established by

the noted

sci

ence magazine, the silver trophy was created in 1907 to

stimulate aviation progress in

the

United States.

If

a com

petitor could complete a trio of trials in succeeding years

(each year's

hurdle

would

become

increasingly difficult,

thanks

to

standards determined by the Aero Club), the

trophy would

be

permanently

given

to the

competitor.

Curtiss and

the AEA

were

confident

that

their new

air

plane, the third powered fixed-wing aircraft they built,

was up to the first challenge

of

flying

more

than a kilo

meter (3,281 feet, or 0.621 mile) in a straight line. After


17/44

day),

the AEA

made

the

decision

to

go ahead with a

new

design, similar in appearance but refined by Curtiss. The

five flights

made with White

Wing

told them they

were

on the right track, but that both structural and aerody

namic changes needed to be made.

It

would be easier

to

build a new airplane

than

to rebuild

the

White Wing with

the

changes incorporated.

Aerodrome

No.3

which would be dubbed the June

Bug by

Dr. Bell,

would feature

the

wingtip lateral controls

first installed

on

the

White Wing. The triangular movable

control surfaces were a revelation to the team. They al

lowed

the AEA s

aircraft

to

be controlled laterally, so

the

pilot could regulate his turns or recover from upsets

that

caused

the

airplane

to

roll

to one

side or

the

other.

The

June

Bug's "wingtips," as the controls were called

by

the

AEA, were

controlled

by a yoke

that

was

worn

over the

shoulders of the pilot. If you leaned into the turn in the

same manner as when

riding

a motorcycle,

your

lower

shoulder would

be

on the

lower

or inside of the turn

while your higher shoulder would be

pointed

away from

the

ground.

The yoke was rigged

to

move

the wingtips

so

that the

trailing edge

on the

wingtip of

the

wings you

wished

to

lower would tilt upward,

and the wingtip

on

the

opposite wings would tilt in the opposite direction.

Curtiss' design for

the June Bug

created a biplane with

the

familiar AEA-style wings,

although

the design of the

structure

created a

straight line down the leading and

trailing edges

as

viewed from in front, each side more like

a long truncated triangle than

the

curved wing of its pre

decessor. (Later, Curtiss would dispense

with the

tapered

wings, maintaining a rectangular box structure for his air

craft wing designs.) With a longer forward structure, which

allowed the builder to move

the

engine back 5 inches,

the

pilot sat further forward

than on the White

Wing.

The

total length of

the June

Bug was 27 feet 6 inches,

with

a

wingspan of 42 feet 6 inches. The lightweight structure

of

the

third AEA aerodrome

had

an

empty

weight of 473

pounds

and

a gross

weight of

615

pounds; the

engine

alone weighed nearly 200 pounds. The

White

Wing and

June

Bug had one other

pioneering

feature

that would

become a standard in aviation many decades

later-they

had

a tricycle landing gear.

J.

.

O BELL, r. W. BALDWIN, 1.

A

D. I4 ,

CORDY,

O

B. CURTIBU T. E.

SELFRIDGE.

I , A,

leUllDOI

, J.DWIIIITU.:UI

or

T. E.

U nU

• .

EO

D,

FLYlJO IUOQlWE.

UPLIOJ, I IOi

ru

API , I , UOf .

1 011 106.

atented

Dec 1911

l I un-I I ln .

ger than

the

White Wing, which

had

a lifespan of

only

six

days from its first flight to its last

It took just slightly less than a

month

to build

the

new

airplane.

The

airframe was

completed

by

June

19, 1908,

and

it was given a few ground tests before

the

wings were

installed and

it was pronounced ready for a

test

flight.

The

summer

heat

and

humidity

caused

the varnish to

crack and peel, so it

had

to be refinished. Pioneering aero

nautical

enthusiast and

engineer

Octave Chanute

had


18/44

The

June

Bug's

eight cylinder

, 40 hp engine was a Curtiss

product.

Eac

h

cylin

der had its

own

carburetor. Curtiss , alr

ead

y

well known for his

company

's engi

ne building

prowess, was

one of the spark

plugs

of the Aerial

Experiment Association

.

ing

the June

Bug, yet

other

research

would

lead

one to

believe the varnish

coating

was used first on the

White

Wing

and

then

the June Bug. In either event, the coat

ing

is

believed to have been

the first use

of

a

sealing

coating, or dope, used on a fixed-wing aircraft.

Flight testing began on June 21 with three short

flights,

the

longest

of which

lasted 25.5 seconds, cover

ing just more than 1,200 feet in length.

By

the

seventh

test flight

onJune

27, Curtiss kept

the

airplane

in the

air

for 60 seconds, covering more

than

3,000 feet

and

land

ing

only when

the boundary

of the

field

at

Stony Brook

Farm was reached.

Curtiss

and

his compatr iots were

convinced-they had

A. G. BELL , F. W. BALDWIN, J . A. D.

McCU

RDY, G. H. CURTISS'" T. E.

SELFRIDGE

.

E • .

UFlIDGE

.

ADKII18 rU.tOI or

r .

t . IELrllDGE

, DEO D.

FLYING CHINE.

APf LI OATIOI

rtL£D

H I.I U V .

Patented

Dec 5 1911

I,Oll,106.

6

BEE1 I

-

lHtEf 4


19/44

certain their rights

as

inventors would be better served by

not taking part in such a public event, were

not

drawn out

by

the

trophy.

By July

1 it was clear

to

the

secretary that

the AEA

meant

to claim

the

prize, and since

the

rules allowed

the

competitor to

name the

place

and

time of

the

attempt, it

would be accomplished in a valley in

the

wine

country

of

the

Finger

Lakes

region of New

York

and not

in Washing

ton or

any other

major population center.

The day before

the

public, officially

sanctioned event

was to take place, Curtiss

and the members of the AEA

who were in Hammondsport, along with Curtiss' assistant

Henry Kleckler, decided

to

test

the June

Bug

one

last time.

Using

the

horse racetrack

owned

by winery

owner

Harry

Champlin as a runway, Curtiss roared off on a dry run

of

the next

day's record

attempt, but due

to his (and ev

eryone else's, for

that

matter) inexperience

and the

chal

lenging

handling

characteristics of a pioneer-era aircraft,

gusty winds

put him in the

ground,

wrecking

one wing

and busting a wheel. But Curtiss was undeterred,

and

with

the

help of

the

others,

they

rebuilt

the June

Bug

in only

half a day.

As the sun

rose

that

steamy Saturday,

hundreds

of

spectators began to spread out blankets and settle in for

what they thought would

be a few hours

on

the

hill

side of the valley near the

Pleasant

Valley

Wine

Com

pany. Expecting the flight

to

take place early

in

the day,

when

normally

the weather was calmest, the crowds

were forced

to wait in

the

increasingly

uncomfortable

weather. At

one

point

,

in an

effort

to put

a

cheery

face

on an otherwise

tedious

day,

the owners

of the

winery

opened their

doors

to the public

for a repast,

complete

with the local vintner's creations.

As the

day dragged on, Curtiss kept eying

the

weather.

After his experience the previous day, he wasn't

about to

take a

chance

on

blowing

the opportunity to make his

tory by being impatient. Finally, after

the

afternoon show

ers had passed

and the

weather calmed down, he gave

the

word he was ready

to

fly.

As the

sun began to draw lower on

the

western ridge of

the

valley, Curtiss

and

his associates pulled

the June

Bug

from its

tent

hangar.

With

the hour

now

past six in

the

A. O. BELL

F.

W.

BALDWIN

J. A D. MoCURDY O. B. CURTISS

T. E.

SELFRIDGE .

I 1 , tELlIIDQE . .101'11

11'-1'01

or T

lurllDGE

Dt

U D

FLYING IIACHINE.

J PPLICJ TI0M f iL ED P

l

9

1.011.106.

Patented

Dec.

5.

191

I

~ t ~

- R . u x J ; ~

J4I

lI 7:l4ff


20/44

The June

Bug

roars

past the camera and its

no-doubt

startled

photographer

on one

of the two flights on July Fourth. Might this

be the

shot taken

y

the photographer

whose choice

of

position short

of the expected

end

of the

flight seemed to inspire

Curtiss to

fly

well past the 1-

kilometer

mark s red flag?

as

they reviewed the setting of the flight control surfaces,

they discovered the error in the stabilizer setting. Quickly

putting it right, they had time for another attempt to win

the Scientific American trophy.

At 7:30 Manly's starter flag

dropped

and

the

roar of

Curtiss' V-8 echoed up and down the valley.

It

must have

been a fantastic sight; the yellow wings of

the June

Bug

must have glowed in

the

warm evening light of

that

July

summer

day, the cloud of exhaust and oil smoke trailing

behind

as Curtiss coaxed

the

biplane

up

to an average speed of 39 mph for

the flight.

Just before takeoff, annoyed at the

naysayers, Curtiss spotted something

that

steeled his determination. A pho-

tographer, intent on taking a

photo

of the

June Bug as

i t passed by, set up

h is

camera short of the

finish line s

red flag. Curtiss took that to mean the

photographer didn t

think

he could

make it

the

full distance. I

think the

ph o tographer just wanted a shot in

the

air,

and

not one

as

the June

Bug

touched down . After all , for a historic

flight, who wants a photo of an air -

plane on the ground?)

The crowd then got to witness

one

of the most amazing flights ever made

up to

that

point in time, and one that

wo uld actually

be

the longest flight

ever

made with the June

Bug. Curtiss

wove his way

around

the t rees

and

vineyards of

the

Pleasant

Va ll

ey Wine Company, roaring

by the photographer and continuing well past the red flag

only coming down when he reached a stand of trees near

the

edge of

the

fie ld. He covered nearly 6,000 feet in dis-

tance, flying 102.5 seconds . He'd won Glenn Hammond

Curtiss and the AEA had topped

them

all, placing himself

and the

accomplishments of

the

AEA

on

the

front page of

every newspaper in the nation and around the world.

O S ~ K O S ~

~ Q W COH6!11


21/44

It must have been a very sweet cel

ebration that Fourth of July, 1908.

With the Great Western champagne

flowing from th

e

winery, i t must

have been quite a night.

Glenn

Cur

tiss, once known as The Fastest Man

on Earth" thanks to his motorcycle

building and racing

prowess,

had

set himself on a

new

path,

one

that

would lead

to

remarkable

technical

achievements, but one that wo uld

try his very soul.

........

July

Fourth

will

mark

the

100th

anni-

versary of Glenn Curtiss

flight

in the AEPls

Aerodrome No.3

June Bug

winning

the

Scientific

American

trophy for the first of-

ficially

observed public flight of more than

1 kilometer

in

length .

The

Glenn

H

Curtiss Museum in Ham

mondsport New York

is

dedicated to the

memory

of the pioneer aviator. The mu-

seum

contains a priceless collect ion relat-

ing

to early aviation

and local history. In

addition to

seeing

the museum displays

and

exhibits, visitors

are

welcome to

viSit

the

Restoration Shop

talk with volunteer

For

more on Glenn Hammond

Curtiss

and

his life, I recom

mend the

following books:

Unlocking the Sky: Glenn Hammond Curtiss

and

the Race to In

vent the Airplane,

by

Seth Shulman, published in 2002.

Hell-Rider

t

King

of

the Air: Glenn Curtiss s Life

of

Innovation,

by

Kirk W. House, published in 2004.

Curtiss: The Hammondsport Era, 1907-1915,

by

Louis Casey,

published

in 1981.

Glenn Curtiss: Pioneer

of

Flight,

by

C.R. Roseberry,

published

in 1972.

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22/44

Light Plane Heritage

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED N EAA xperimenter NOVEMBER 1991

Remember th Klemm

BY BOB

WHITTI

ER

This nostalgia evoking photo shows a 20 hp Klemm in flight over the German countryside. Bulge

atop engine cowling covers the single magneto. ost Klemms were done with unpigmented fin-

ishes allowing natural wood and fabric colors to show Note wingtip skids and the unusual pivoting

wingtip aile

ron

s.

housands

of

young

men

learned to

fly

during World

War

I

Upon

being

dis

In the United States a great many

took eagerly to barnstorming in sur

plus two-seater Jenny

and

Standard

ing. Some

joined

flying clubs.

Yet

others

saw a future in offering fast,

frequent ,

and

hopefully reliable air


23/44

but valuable cargo to and from

these places more swiftly

than

could

be

done

by ship spurred yet others

to use

modified

single- and

twin-

engined bombers

to

make

incred

ibly

long and daring exploratory

flights

to

South Africa, India, Indo

China,

and

even

Australia . Out

of

these

adventures

there eventually

developed a vast airline system.

But pilots

in

defeated

Germany

found

themselves in a very differ

ent situation. The harsh terms of

the

Treaty of Versailles called for

the

destruction of

Germany s military

equipment. Only a handful of war

surplus planes escaped the bonfires.

The

manufacture of new military

aircraft was forbidden, and severe

restrictions were placed on

the

manufacture of and performance

capabilities of civilian aircraft.

On top

of that, their country was

in the throes of runaway inflation.

These daunting factors combined

to spark a strong interest in gliders

and

gliding.

Many and

sometimes

strange-

looking gliders appeared. The method

of launching them in those very early

days was to find a large, grassy field

on the side of a hill and yank the glid

ers

aloft with stretched bungee cords.

Flights were simply

short

downhill

glides. Soaring came later.

Inevitably some pilots

began to

install whatever

they

could find

in

the

way

of very small, light mo-

tors

in

their gliders so

they could

get airborne without having

to

call

together

enough people to

form

launching

crews, or so they

could

The Klemm monoplane was powered by this 20-hp Daimler-Mercedes

two-cylinder engine. Circular shape behind the propeller

hub

is the

hous-

in

g for the 3-to-1 reduction gear. Note two exhaust stacks per cylinder,

n outcome of the engine s having four valves per cylinder. Single mag

neto

is

mounted atop the crankcase. The engine

h d

a

75

mm

bore

nd

1

mm

stroke.

A derivation of the original Klemm was this very handsome KL-35 trainer

powered with a 150-hp Hirth engine. That s Hans Klemm standing beside

the fuselage. Wing was of inverted gull design. Front cockpit has been

covered over.


24/44

any and all aircraft construction,

but

the

Udet crew apparent ly didn t

realize this.

One of Udet s em ployees was

collared

by this official, liquored

up,

and

questioned. The employee

promptly told Udet

that

officialdom

was after

their

little company. The

little crew went into a huddle and

decided "To hell

with

the treaty "

In the dark of night they loaded ev

erything into

a wagon, made

their

furtive way well out into the

hin

terlands, and resumed work in

a

chicken coop.

Just a

few

days before their plane

was finished, in May of 1922,

they

were very happy

when

word reached

them that

the

ban on construction

of civil aircraft

had been

lifted.

So

they

proudly rolled the ship

out

for

its maiden flight. It was powered by

an

opposed twin-cylinder air-cooled

Haacke engine of 30 hp. This mill

vibrated so badly that Udet wrote of

the plane's first hop thusly:

"The motor shakes the plane so

badly I

can t

even recognize

the

aile

rons Everything vibrates

as though

the

road

in

the

air were paved with

cobblestones But I

am

flying-for

the

first time in two years "

The Udet crew must somehow

have improved

on

this situation, for

by 1923

the

little company had also

developed a similar two-seater pow

ered by

an

upgraded

S

-

hp

Haacke.

The hoped-for mass

market

in

the

United States never materialized

due to the insurmountable competi

tion caused by

the

thousands of war

surplus

American

military planes

available

at

flea market prices. But

This American Aeromarine-Klemm sports the 4O hp Salmson nine-cylinder

ra-

dial engine built in France and a set of floats designed

by

Harold Kantner.

This American-built Aeromarine-Klemm with a LeBlond engine was photo

graphed at Floyd Bennett Field in New York around 1937 Fat airwheel

tires

were

standard and allowed operation

on

rough fields, sandy beaches,

etc

. Rudder top was raised

to better

control added horsepower.

man deSigners like Junkers had pi

oneered this

form of wing design,

so Udet

had

a precedent. This type

would need no external struts or tie

rods,

in

addition to offering

the

low

drag necessary

to

get decent perfor

mance from low power. Making it

in

one

piece from

tip to tip would

save

the cost and weight of the

steel connecting fittings necessary

in

a wing built

in

two or more sec

Cessna C-

38 Airmaster,

you will

understand

this perfectly. The low

wing configuration allowed the

deep

central portions of the Udet

plane's wing spars

to

pass

under the

seats

and/or

knees of

the

occupants.

The open cockpits were easy to get

into,

had

no

headroom

problem,

and

afforded excellent visibility.

In the town of Bbblingen, not far

from

the

city of Stuttgart

in

south


25/44

you can best appreciate

this

tini

ness by recalling

that the

original

four-cylinder, 1200 cc Volkswagen

engine has 73 cubic inches displace

ment. But it

had

excellent breath

ing characteristics by reason of

having

two

inlet

and

two exhaust

valves

per

cylinder.

So what

else is

new,

you

modern automobile en

gine deSigners?

Also its peak-rated rpm was 3000,

quite

high

for aircraft engines of its

time. It was fitted

with

a 3-to-1 re

duction gear so as

to

drive

the

pro

peller at a

maximum

speed of 1000

rpm, which was comparable to

the

rotational speeds of World War I

rotary engines. A large-diameter

propeller

could

thus

be used,

and

this

threw

back a

correspondingly

large

diameter, thrust-producing

column of

air. So it was

in

fact a

well-thought-out approach to light

airplane

engine design that

was

quite advanced for its time. And

by

the

way, the

engineer

in

charge of

its

development

was

Dr. lng.

h.c.

(doctor of engineering) Ferdinand

Porsche,

whose

skill

at designing

small and

reliable

air-cooled en

gines later created

the

Volkswagon

and Porsche automobile engines.

The well-financed Mercedes

Daimler company decided to develop

an airplane of its own to use this en

gine. They

put the

project

into the

hands

of

an

aeronautical

engineer

named

Hansjurgen Hans Klemm.

The resulting airplane was originally

called

the

Daimler L.20. A separate

organization

was

established to

manufacture it

and named

Leight

signs from other

engineers'

draft

ing boards to learn whatever

he can

about their poor

and

good ideas.

Like

the

Udet, the Klemm

was

of

all-wood

construction

and was

a low

wing of the cantilever

type.

But, where

the

Udet had a mod

est

span of

29

feet

1

inches, the

new

Klemm

had

a

long span

of 40

feet 2

inches

and had 215

square

feet

of

wing area. Later American

lightplanes

of the

Cub

type

had

around 170 square feet

of

wing

area, so you can see

that the

Klemm

was definitely a floater. Very light

airplanes tip easily

when landing

in

crosswinds, so

the

low wing on

the

Klemm did much

to

minimize this

problem. I f

wind

did

tip

a Klemm,

one wingtip

skid simply

contacted

the

ground and

bumped the

ship

back to level position.

Because of this appreciably

greater span, Hans Klemm decided

to

build the wing

in

three pieces, a

center

section

and

two

outer pan

els. He

paid

a small

penalty in

the

form of

the

cost

and

weight of

the

necessary steel

connecting

fittings,

but

gained

much

in convenience.

Each wing panel was attached with

two

vertical bolts

and

could quite

readily be removed

and hung

snug

and secure against

the fuselage

sides by means of small fittings pro

vided for

the

purpose. This enabled

the Klemm

to

be housed

in

a fairly

narrow and inexpensive

storage

shed or to be towed along

a

road

behind an

automobile. The rudder

and horizontal

tail were

removed

so as

not to

catch

the

wind or foul

the

tow car.

Making light

and

easily managed

wings removable

rather

than fold

able

saves a

lot of complication,

cost,

and weight. Some Klemm

owners came

to value

this

feature

very highly.

The reason for

the

long span had

to do with

a concept

known

to en

gineers as span loading. Basically

the

idea

is

that

i f

good takeoff

and

climbing

ability

and high

ceilings

WeD for a l J J o

airplanes, anyway .. w

got th

idea from Ponce.

It's

called

rejuvenation,

and

it

works

great

with

real

dope

finishes. Spray

our

rejuvenator

over

ge dope;


26/44

are wanted in a plane powered by

a small engine,

wingspan

must be

quite long. Read the article

Wing

Span - The Vital Factor

in

the July

1988 issue of EAA Experimenter

In early models

the

leading edges

of the wings had false ribs between

the

main

ones. Later the leading

edges were

sheathed

with thin ply

wood

back to

the front

spars, and

in

a later (1929) license-built Amer

ican version, to

the

rear spars.

An

odd feature

was

the

use of

pivoted wingtips

for

aileron con

trol.

The

tips

pivoted in response

to

control

stick movement.

You

can

see this clearly

in

the in-flight

photo accompanying this

article.

Regular

ailerons

were also used,

and the result must have been

a somewhat complicated control

linkage system

.

The exact reason

for

the use of

pivoted

tips

is

ob

scure but could have

involved

the

problem of

adverse yaw in a

light

airplane of considerable wingspan.

The

writer recalls

reading some

thing many years ago

to

the effect

that it was hard to get good control

stick

feel

with tip ailerons. They

were very sensitive to the

location

of their pivoting pOint,

and

at

high

angles of deflection

they

could be

come overbalanced

so as to

take

the

stick away from

the

pilot. This

feature was in

time dropped

in

fa-

vor of

conventional

ailerons

only

.

The wing

used

the

thick, high-lift

Gottingen

387 airfoil, very similar

to the Gottingen

386

used in the

American Ford Tri-Motor of notable

load-carrying capability.

Cessnas

fitted with

retractable-wheel amphibious

twin float

s are nothing

new

in

the

aviation world

Back

in

1929

Aeromarine-Klemm in New Je

r-

sey experimented

with

e

xactly the

same idea.

00

AA

ss

cc


27/44


28/44

The

ltn

The history

of

a

most remarkable engine

BY JOE

HAYNES

WITH ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

TO

THE

PUBLISH CORPORATE HISTORY

PUBLISHED IN 1950,

TH PR TT WHITNEY

IRCR FT STORY

As antiquers,

we all like

to talk

about

our

particular antique or clas

sic Stearman, Waco, Beech, Cessna,

skilled machin is ts who had

both worked at the Colt

Pistol Factory and formed


29/44

toga and Lexington. Rentschler be

lieved that

the

best airplane could

only be designed around the best

engine; second best didn't count.

At that point, aircraft

engines

were still based

on

World War I de

signs. What made him think an air

cooled engine could be developed

in this horsepower range and com

pete with the big Curtiss D-12 and

the water-cooled V-12s being devel

oped by Wright and Packard? Well,

the story goes back to

an

engineer

named George Mead.

George Mead was a Massa

chusetts Institute of Technology

graduate who

had

worked on an

aircraft

engine

design for

the

U.S . Army Air Ser

vice during World

War I and didn' t

believe

that

liquid-

cooled

engines

were

ideal for aircraft.

Those types of

required

en

gines

carried

too much weight.

He had worked for

Rentschler

when

Rentschler

had formed

Wrigh t -Mar

t in

(later

re

organized into

Wright Aeronautical

Corporation

)

and

produced

the

His

panso-Suizas

and

the 575-hp Wright liq

uid-cooled T.

On a side note, before Rent

mous Wright J-5, which later pow

ered

the

Ryan NYP

Spirit

o st

ouis

from New York to Paris in May of

1927.

Mead knew more about get

ting more horsepower per

pound

than anyone in the engine busi

ness, but the Wright directors still

backed the liquid-cooled designs, a

stance that caused Rentschler to re

sign. Mead and Willgoos told Rent

schler they would go with him if

he ever got back

in the

engine busi

ness. Mead's foresight was

the

key

to

any

rapid

expansion

of aircraft

engine development, but he got

bogged

down

by

Wright

manage

ment and their insistence on stick

ing with the liquid-cooled design to

challenge the Curtiss D-12.

Pratt

Whitney management

reviewed

Rentschler's proposal

with their board of directors and

looked at

the

market. The War De

partment

reports were negative in

tone. The National Advisory Com

mittee for Aeronautics Report to

President Coolidge was blunt in its

assessment: There was

no

civil avi

ation development

following

the

war. They

consulted with Chance

Vought, a well-known, outspoken

aircraft designer, who replied, Hell,

if you can even produce an engine

of 350

hp and

weighing less than

650 pounds , there will be a mar

ket . Two days later, Pratt Whit

ney

management

called Rentschler

and

told

him

he had his money;

produce your team

and

we will

work out a contract.

Rentschler

called

Mead, who

The

so

li

d

ma

ster

rod

wi

th one of

the

othe

r

eight connecti

ng rods

nstalled

ceed 650 pounds. A generation later,

when the

highest

-powered radial

air-cooled engines delivered power

almost 10 times

the

400 hp Mead


30/44

PH

OTOS

E

LIBR RY

PR TI WHIT

NEY

The two-piece crankshaft

of the

Wasp .

Combined with the one-piece

master rod

and the industry-l

eading metallurgical

engineering that created

long

lasting

bearings and valves ,

the

Pratt Whitney

Wasp

rais

ed

the bar for all airc raft

engines

that were

to

follow after it 's

introduction

to the industry

in

1926.

of 1,344 cubic inches displacement

on the

basis

of

125

pounds

brake

mean effective pressure

BMEP)

and

1900

rpm. That

meant

the

average engine would have

to

be

capable

of

420

hp or 130

pounds

MEP

to

assure a safe

margin

above

the 400-hp guarantee . They also

had

to consider that

for

military

use

the engine

would

be

forced

in

dives to run

at

2400 rpm, as

there

were

no

controllable-pitch propel

lers

in

1925.

In

1920, Mead

had

designed

an

engine

the

R-1, for

the

Army Air

Service

on which he had

reversed

the

usual procedure splitting

the

crankshaft and employing

a solid

master rod. He decided

on

this pro

cedure because it

meant

less weight

to counterbalance.

He

also

thought

it

might

hold

the

key

to

permitting


31/44

The two-

piece crankcase

tational speeds and sturdier

con

struction for dependability, and

the l,344-cubic-inch displacement

would weigh no more than

the

Si-

moon's l,176-cubic-inch engine. A

cylinder design was developed us

ing an all-steel barrel with

the

cool

ing

fins

machined from

the

solid

casting. General practice up to this

time

had

been to integrally cast

an

aluminum cylinder head and barrel

with a shrunk-in steel sleeve. Mead

devised a

rotary

induction system

that

made

possible

the

use of one

carburetor instead of three, and, by

gearing up

the

impeller,

the

engine

could later be supercharged.

Mead put Willgoos to

work

on

the arrangements

for the valves,

finning

, rocker boxes , and push

rods. He used Mead's

tulip

valve

design, which had solved the valve

burning on

the

Lawrence

engine,

and

designed

the

rocker

box

as

an

integral

part

of the cylinder head

casting,

along with telescoping

pushrod covers. Mead had Willgoos

design the rear accessory section,

The

power section

of the

engine

was

built

asa

separate unit

from

the

accessory

section

,

giving the eng

i

ne

greater maintainability

were designing in Willgoos' garage

in

Montclair, New Jersey. The only

space available was

in

the Pope Hart

ford building that Pratt Whitney

to why these engine men were in

Hartford. Mead let

them

know

that

something was up, but he

needed

their silence.

He told

them

they

would be the first to know

when

the

news

broke

.

They

were

in the

market for workers, but they still

had to formalize a contract with

Pratt Whitney. That afternoon, a

formal contract was signed between

Pratt & Whitney Tool Company, as

a subsidiary of Niles-Bement-Pond,

and the

new

Pratt

& Whitney

Air

craft

Company,

with

Rentschler

as

president

and

Mead as vice presi

dent of engineering. Their objective

was

the designing, constructing,

testing

and experimenting with

aeroplane engines, aeroplanes, hy

droplanes, and if successful, to pro

ceed

with

the

production

thereof.

The spelling of aeroplane was

not

the choice of

Rentschler

or Mead

but

of

the

lawyers.

The financial details closely fol

lowed those originally proposed by

Rentschler:

$250,000

to carry the

work

through the

testing of

the

first

engine and, if the engine was prom

ising,

1

million

for further devel

opment

and

production tooling.

Rentschler insisted in the

contract

that neither

Niles-Bement-Pond

nor

Pratt

& Whitney Tool could

have

any

voice

in the management

of the new company. In addition

to Rentschler and Mead, three out

side directors, Col. Leonard Horner,

Sanford

Etherington, and

Edward

Deeds were chosen. They had been

key

aviation

figures in World War

I and recognized the need for na

vey of Pratt &

Whitney

Tool, which at night on December 24 ,

they

The No.1 Wasp swept through the


32/44

they found very well-equipped . t

appeared that

only certain gears

would require

subcontracting for

the first engine.

John

Burrop was

one

of

the

old

metal cutters from the train sta

tion

meeting,

and

Brown put

him

in charge of the machine shop. Be-

tween

them

they secured two lathes,

two big milling machines, a Lucas

boring mill, external grinders, inter

nal grinders, benches, drills, layout

plates, etc. The routine was simple.

Mead released the drawing through

the hole to Brown,

who

doubled as

purchasing agent, who then passed

them to

Burrop,

who

had

built

a

platform

in

the

center

of the shop

and assigned the tasks for building

the various engine parts. By October

the

blueprints were flying

through

the

hole as several more designers

had left Wright

and

joined Mead

and Willgoos.

Willgoos'

brother Bill Willgoos

joined

them and

was

in

charge of

the

assembly

of the first engine .

No name had been selected for the

engine. Mrs. Rentschler

thought

it

should

be in the bee line, as the

place resembled a beehive. She se

lected Wasp, which stuck. Bill

and

his small crew set Christmas as

the target

date

for completing the

assembly. Several days earlier, Col.

Deeds had cabled from Havana,

saying

that

if

the

engine was com

pleted by Christmas he would give

each member of the organization a

turkey. There were still

some

parts

to be fabricated and the engine was

passed

out

the baskets as the men

left the shop. Sitting

on the

engine

stand

was the first Wasp, all assem

bled

and

ready for the test stand.

In just six

months

the engine had

progressed from scratch to a

com-

pleted assembly.

Mead now had to put into practice

the adage of this old engine professor

of

MIT

to start

her

up and see why

she didn't go. The Wasp weighed in

at just under 650 pounds, and as he

and Andy looked at her, they knew it

looked right.

Mead wanted to start an immedi

ate

informal

test prior to the Navy

test and felt it should start at 360 hp.

He was finally coaxed into going for

380

hp

, if it started. The Wasp started,

all right. It took the 380

hp

in stride

and

so

smoothly

that

all skepticism

vanished. Why

not

go for 400 hp?

Again

under an informal test, the Wasp

delivered 410 hp. On the third test the

Wasp hit 425 hp and ran clean.

During the next two months the

Wasp underwent continual informal

runs

in

preparation for the formal

Navy qualification test. In the mean

time, the second Wasp was

almost

assembled and four more were mov

ing from rough to finished parts to

as-

sembly. Also during this time, Mead

and Willgoos were

far

along with the

design of a new engine, the Hornet,

which displaced 1,690 cubic inches

and

was

aimed at

525

hp

at 1900 rpm.

Many parts of the Wasp were inter

changeable with

the

Hornet, which

was remarkable in those days.

The Navy qualification test started

SO-hour test, measuring at full throt

tle between 410 and 420 hp. The

fi-

nal reading taken by the observers,

their 221st, showed 1890 rpm

and

415

hp

. The Navy sent its congratula

tions and asked that this Wasp be ear

marked for an earthbound existence.

t

was retired and placed

on

perma

nent exhibit in the Franklin Institute

in Philadelphia, where it resides to

day.

It has never flown. In later years,

Mrs. Mead remarked that it was a pity

this Wasp was never allowed

to

fly

after performing so well

and

being

the

engine

that ushered in Pratt

Whitney Aircraft and its slogan De

pendable Engines. She also said that

the engine still

smelled

of the to

bacco

that

hung in the air of the ex

perimental shop that Christmas Eve

when the engine

sat gleaming

and

finished on the engine stand.

On May

11,

1926, the Navy issued

Pratt

Whitney

Aircraft a check in

the amount of $15,385.92 as pay

ment

for

the

first Wasp. On April

I,

Pratt Whitney Tool

advanced

the 1 million to proceed with pro

duction

tooling, as

they had

risked

only $202,713 .29

on

the

experi-

mental

engines.

Rentschler's plan

and

Mead's design offered a fertile

investment opportunity.

The

sec

ond Wasp took to the air in a Wright

Apache (F3W-l),

which had

been

modified by Chance Vought. Within

six

months, the

Wasp was flown in

planes

never designed

to

take its

power

and

the Wasp

demonstrated

power

that

made possible the aircraft

speed, rate of climb, performance at

http:///reader/full/15,385.92http:///reader/full/202,713.29http:///reader/full/202,713.29http:///reader/full/202,713.29http:///reader/full/15,385.92http:///reader/full/202,713.29


33/44

Be

sure

and

visit

AUA,

Inc

.

at

AirVenture July

28th

through Augus

t

3rd,

2008. They

are

in

South

East

Exhibit Buil

ding

B,

Booth

B-2005 .

Ace


34/44

BY

H.G.

FRAUTSCHY

THIS MONTH'S MYSTERY PLANE IS ANOTHER GOODIE COMING TO US

ROM

THE

COLLECTION OF TED BUSINGER, SALEM, ARKANSAS.

Send your answer to

EAA Vintage Airplane P.O. Box

You c n also send

your

response via e-mail. Send

3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer needs your answer to [email protected]. Be sure to include

to be in

no

later th n August 10 for inclusion in

the

your name, city, and state

in

the body of your note, and

October 2008 issue of Vintage

Airplane.

put (Month) Mystery Plane in

the

subjectline.

APRIL'S

MYSTERY

ANSWER

mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]


35/44

April's

Mystery

Pla n e also

came

to

us

from

Ted

Businger's collection. Our

answer comes

from Wes

ley Smith:

liThe

April 2008 Mystery Plane

is the

1927 Martin

Boyd (Parasol)

Monoplane

. The aircraft was b

uilt by

Edward Martin of San ta Ana, California, and was de-

signed

by

Millard Boyd.

The

aircraft

incorporated

a

parasol

wing using

a

symmetrica

l NACA No. 81 air

foil,

which at the

cen

ter

was 22

inches thick

.

It

was

powered

by

a

180-hp

Wright-Martin

Hispano-Suiza

engine. The aircraft

is notable

for

having been

flown

in

the 1927 Internat

i

onal Aviation

Peace

Ju

b ilee,

which

was

sponsored joint

ly

by

the

Santa

An a Air

Club

and The

Aero

Club of

Hollywood.

I t

was

held

at

the Eddie Martin Airport

at

Santa Ana, California,

Ju ly 2-4, 1927. This

event

incorporated

various aerial

events,

including

races

and

parachute jumping

. A rear

view of the Martin-Boyd appears

in viation

("Interna

tiona l Aviation Peace Jubilee Draws Large Attendance:

S

tu nting,

Parach

ute Jumping and

Air Races Make Up

I

nteresting

Program,"

July

25, 1927, Page 203). I re

gret

t h

at

I

have been unable to unearth any

further

deta

il

s on this attractive

and

interesting monoplane;

however,

many

years later, Millard Boyd was involved

with

t

he

design of

the

Ryan SCM."

Wes' response was

the only one

we received.

ERO CL SSIC

"COLLECTOR SERIES"

Vintage ires

New USA Production

Show off y

our

pride and joy with a

fresh set of Vintage Rubber. These

newly minted ti res are FAA-TSO'd

things are better left the way they

were, and in the 40 's and 50's, these ti res were perfectly in

tune to the exciting times in aviation.

Not only do these ti r

es

set your vintage plane apart from

the re

st

,

but

also look exceptional on all General

Av

iation

and speed rated to 120 MPH. Some


36/44

The

abbreviation DA means

different

things to

different folks.

For people

who

get involved

with

court proceedings, it brings to mind

a

state or county prosecutor.

For

those who

grew

up in

the '50s,

it

might

evoke a hairstyle resembling

the

posterior of

a

waterfowl.

But

for pilots it

should mean only one

thing: density altitude.

Unfortunately,

I

have found

not

only

as

an examiner

asking

an

applicant

to describe what density

altitude is during

a

practical

test,

but also as

an interested pilot

pe

rusing

the

National Transportation

Safety Board (NTSB)

accident

re

cords-that many

pilots really

don't

understand what density altitude

is.

And

without that understanding,

many are

getting themselves

i

Vintage Airplane - Jul 2008

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