Vintage Airplane - Mar 2010

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Mar 2010

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march 2010


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march 2010


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This month’s column starts out

with a good news–bad news scenario.

Okay, the good news first. The federal

budget was recently introduced by

the current administration in Wash-

ington, D.C., and there are no signs

of any user fees projected to impact

general or recreational aviation forthe upcoming fiscal year 2011. This

is really huge news in my estimation.

I see this as an affirmation of all the

hard work of each of the aviation

“alphabet organizations,” as well as

our membership, in their efforts to

tell the whole story about the impor-

tance of general aviation (GA) in to-day’s society, and its positive impact

on this nation’s economy.

Doug Macnair of EAA’s govern-

ment relations office said it best

when he recently remarked, “The

system is elegant in its simplicity; the

more we fly, the more fuel we burn,

the more we pay in taxes. There can

be no more accurate measure of our

direct use of the national airspace sys-

tem.” Well said, Doug! If you haven’t

been watching the development of

the GA caucuses in the 111th Con-

gress, you should be aware that the

one of these caucuses, please be sure

to encourage him or her to take an

active role in GA and join up.Now for the bad news! It seems

as though that pesky little rodent in

Pennsylvania has once again seen his

shadow, thereby assuring us of an ad-

ditional six weeks of winter weather.Oh, the joys of living in the great Mid-

west or, this year, in the mid-Atlantic

and Northeast. They no more turned

“Phil” loose in Punxsutawney, and it

started snowing around here nearly

every day since. I think we have gotten

9 inches since this shadowy event, and

it’s snowing now and not predictedto stop for two more days. Somebody

out there in the great state of Pennsyl-

vania, please hunt this useless wan-

nabe guinea pig down and concrete

his hole shut! Oh well, by the time you

read this month’s column, we will be

within just a few weeks of April and

hopefully experiencing some higher

temperatures and a little sunshine.

Here’s hoping you have an earlier

spring than I do. Since the groundhog

has given us all an extra bit of time to

bone up on our flying knowledge, seek

out some of the online aviation in-

ing virtually dozens of these amazing

aircraft. Nowhere else in this world

will you ever be able to see so many

DC-3s in one place at the same time.

This effort is sure to be a gate-buster at

this year’s event.

July 28, 1935, was the day of the

first flight of the famous Boeing B-17Flying Fortress. EAA has put out the

call to all current operators of these

special aircraft to bring them to Air-

Venture for this unique anniversary.

Be sure to visit www.AirVenture.org

often to keep up with all the planning

for this year’s event. You just have to

be at The World’s Greatest AviationCelebration. I hope to see you there!

Be sure to read about our newly

relaunched Vintage Aircraft Associa-

tion Lifetime Membership opportu-

nity in the VAA News column in this

month’s issue. This renewed opportu-

nity comes about because of a great

deal of interest from our thousands

of members.Please consider making a lifetime

commitment to the Vintage Aircraft

Association. The many benefits of a

VAA Lifetime Membership are sure to

complement the many amenities of

GEOFF ROBISON

PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

STRAIGHT & LEVEL

No user fees and that pesky weather rodent


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IFC Straight & Level No user fees and that pesky weather rodent

by Geoff Robison

2 News

4 Chapter Locator and Info

6 Fleet Canuck Canada’s gem from the north

by Budd Davisson

12 My Friend Albert VollmeckePart III

by Robert G. Lock

16 Ground Effect Use manual aps to hop off sooner

by Irven F. Palmer Jr.

20 Light Plane Heritage Te Bellanca Biplanes

by Jack McRae

25 Te Vintage Mechanic My thoughts on aircraft propellers, Part II

by Robert G. Lock

30 Te Vintage Instructor How’s your ight prociency?

by Steve Krog, CFI

32 Mystery Plane by H.G. Frautschy

36 Vintage Books and Video Reviews

37 Classied Ads

39 What Our Members Are RestoringKlemm 107C

A I R P L A N E M A R C HC O N T E N T S

S T A F FEAA Publisher Tom Poberezny

Director of EAA Publications Mary Jones

Executive Director/Editor H.G. Frautschy

Production/Special Project Kathleen Witman

Photography Jim Koepnick Bonnie Kratz

Advertising Coordinator Sue Anderson

Classied Ad Coordinator Lesley Poberezny

Copy Editor Colleen Walsh

Director of Advertising Katrina Bradshaw

Display Advertising Representatives:

Vol. 38, No. 3 2010

6


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VAA NEWS

VAA Lifetime MembershipNow Available

It’s been more than 30 years

since the Antique/Classic Division

of EAA (now the Vintage Aircraft

Association) has offered a lifetime

membership option. Over the past

few years a number of committed

members of both VAA and EAA

have asked us to consider reinstat-

ing the lifetime membership op-

tion. Now, with the EAA lifetimemembership available to all who

wish to show their dedication to

recreational aviation, we can offer

the same opportunity to members

of the Vintage Aircraft Association.

It takes a special individual to make

a lifetime commitment to support the

work we do to help preserve, protect,and defend the freedom of personal

flight. We feel honored that a num-

ber of you have expressed an interest

in showing your dedication by be-

coming a VAA lifetime member, and

your commitment deserved to be re-

warded. By demonstrating your com-

mitment to aviation as a VAA lifetime

member, you’ll be rewarded with all

the great benefits of individual mem-

bership, plus the exclusive benefits

only lifetime members receive:

•A personalized VAA lifetimemember card,

A VAA lifetime member becomespart of an exclusive group of avia-

tors who have chosen to act as stew-

ards of recreational aviation and the

backbone of EAA’s mission to sup-

port the passionate pursuit of flight.

VAA lifetime members lead by ex-

ample through their demonstrated

dedication to aviation’s future. And

with their help, and yours, VAA can

preserve the unwavering spirit of

more than a century of aviation pio-

neers, innovators, and heroes.

Beyond a passion for the air-

planes of yesteryear and a willing-

ness to show your commitment to

support the work being done by the

VAA, there is just one requirementfor VAA lifetime membership; since

you have to be an EAA member to

be a VAA member, each VAA life-

time member must also be an EAA

lifetime member.

If you’re already one of the nearly

1,300 EAAers who are already an

EAA lifetime member, the addi-tional cost of a Vintage Aircraft As-

sociation lifetime membership is

only $975. If you’re not yet an EAA

lifetime member, to become both an

EAA and VAA lifetime member, the

total cost is $1,950. Various options

are available to pay for a lifetime

membership. For more information,

contact EAA membership services at

800-564-6322.

Time to Replace Your Paper Pilot Certificate

Pilots who still have not replaced

of that certificate after March 31,2010.”

To have your certificate replaced,

you can visit this website:www.FAA.gov/

licenses_certificates/airmen_certification/

certificate_replacement.

Or, you can mail in your request to:

Federal Aviation Administration

Airmen Certification Branch,

AFS-760

P.O. Box 25082

Oklahoma City, OK 73125-0082

Enclose a check for $2 for each

certificate you need replaced.

A few items to note:

•The FAA says to allow four to six

weeks for mail processing and sevento 10 days for online processing.

•It will issue only one copy ofeach certificate.

•It cannot place the original dateof issue on a replacement certificate.

•It will not issue expired certifi-cates. However, you can request an

expired CFI letter at no charge.•If your current address is listed

as a post officebox (P.O. box), gen-

eral delivery, rural route, or star

route, please provide directions or

a map for locating your residence.

Finally, one more thing to men-

tion—don’t send your paper cer-

tificate in when you mail in your

request! Keep it in your possession.

The FAA does not require you to send

it in, and doing so may confuse the

FAA into thinking you’re surrender-

ing your certificate, something that

you really don’t want to do.

L I F E T I M E M E M B E R


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only this time of year; on the con-

trary, when issues come up from

time to time, the FAA is most inter-

ested in obtaining feedback from the

clubs. Often, this feedback is donethrough the airworthiness concern

sheet (ACS) system when a mainte-

nance-related issue is highlighted.

“The Small Airplane Director-

ate responds to the public’s con-

cerns throughout the year and in

as timely a way as possible,” notes

John Colomy, manager of the Small

Airplane Directorate’s Standards Of-

fice. Our job during AirVenture is

to provide a convenient place for

the FAA to meet with any type clubs

that would like to meet face-to-face.

We ask that any issues the type

clubs may have with the FAA be

sent via e-mail or letter to VAA

headquarters by April 30. Duringthe first part of May we will com-

pile the issues in a list and forward

them to Kim Smith, the manager of

the FAA’s Small Airplane Director-

ate in Kansas City.

Kim and her staff will then di-

rectly contact the clubs, working to

address the issues during the firstpart of the summer and, if need be,

meet with the individual clubs dur-

ing AirVenture.

After AirVenture, the Small Air-

plane Directorate will report back

to EAA regarding the issues brought

forward and their disposition.

We ask that only the head of each

type club send a letter; if you’re a

member of a type club and you feel

the club should address a specific

problem, please contact the club di-

rectly and ask that the issue be added

to the club’s list of concerns. Club

Short Wing Piper ClubAlso, we have a change for the

listing of the Short Wing Piper Club:

Short Wing Piper Club Inc.

Eleanor Mills2865 S. Ingram Mill, Unit D-202

Springfield, MO 65804

417-883-1457

E-mail: [email protected]

Website: www.ShortWing.org

Dues: $40/yr. U.S. & Canada;

$50 Int’l

Newsletter: Short Wing Piper News,

Bimonthly

International Stinson ClubPlease change your listing for

the International Stinson Club;

the individual in the previous list

published in Vintage Airplane is no

longer associated with the club.

Here’s the correct information:International Stinson Club

Logan Boles

210 Blackfield Dr.

Tiburon, CA 94920

415-383-3262


Website: www.StinsonClub.org

Dues: $30/yr.Newsletter: Monthly

Nelson’s Comanche Windshield J i m N e l s on , owne r o f the

beautiful Piper PA-24 Coman-

che featured in our January issue,

dropped us a note to correct the

dimensional thickness of the new

windshield installed by WEBCO.

The actual thickness is 1/4-inch,

not 1/2-inch as written.

Possible Assembly Glitch withFebruary Magazine

AERO Friedrichshafen

Messe FriedrichshafenFriedrichshafen, GermanyApril 8-11, 2010www.AERO-Friedrichshafen.com/html/en

Sun ’n Fun Fly-InLakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL)Lakeland, FloridaApril 13-18, 2010www.Sun-N-Fun.org

Virginia Regional Festival of Flight

Suffolk Executive Airport (SFQ)Suffolk, VirginiaMay 22-23, 2010www.VirginiaFlyIn.org

Golden West Regional Fly-In and Air ShowYuba County Airport (MYV)Marysville, CaliforniaJune 11-13, 2010www.GoldenWestFlyIn.org

Arlington Fly-In

Arlington Municipal Airport (AWO)Arlington, WashingtonJuly 7-11, 2010www.ArlingtonFlyIn.org

EAA AirVenture OshkoshWittman Regional Airport (OSH)Oshkosh, WisconsinJuly 26-August 1, 2010www.AirVenture.org

Colorado Sport International Air Show and Rocky

Mountain Regional Fly-InRocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport (BJC)Denver, ColoradoAugust 28-29 2010www.COSportAviation.org

Mid-Eastern Regional Fly-InGrimes Field Airport (I74), Urbana, OhioS t b 11 12 2010

Upcoming Major Fly - Ins

EAA Calendar of Aviation Events Is Now OnlineEAA’s online Calendar of Events is the “go-to” spot on

the Web to list and find aviation events in your area. The

user-friendly, searchable format makes it the perfect web-

based tool for planning your local trips to a fly-in.

In EAA’s online Calendar of Events, you can search

for events at any given time within a certain radius of any

airport by entering the identifier or a ZIP code, and you

can further define your search to look for just the types of

events you’d like to attend.

We invite you to access the EAA online Calendar of

Events at http://www.eaa.org/ calendar/


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CALIFORNIA

Hayward, CA, VAA 29

Meeting: 2nd Thurs., 6:00 p.m.

Hayward Executive Airport Hangar (HWD)

William Field, President

Phone: 925-463-0589


CALIFORNIA

Sacramento, CA, VAA 25

Meeting: 2nd Sat., 9:00 a.m.

See chapter website for location.

Jim Jordan, PresidentPhone: 916-983-0865


Website: www.Vin25.org

CAROLINAS, VIRGINIA

Walnut Cove, NC, VAA 3

Meeting: Contact President

Susan Dusenbury, PresidentPhone: 336-591-3931


Website: www.VAA3.org

May 7-9: Spring Fly-In, Roxboro, NC

FLORIDA

INDIANA

Auburn, IN, VAA 37

Meeting: 4th Thurs., 7:00 p.m.

Auburn Airport Chapter Hangar

Drew Hoffman, President

Phone: 260-693-9747


Website: www.VAA37.org

KANSAS

Overland Park, KS, VAA 16

Meeting: 2nd Fri., 7:30 p.m.New Century Airport, CAG Hangar

Kevin Pratt, President

Phone: 816-985-3248


Website: www.VAA16.com

June 25-26: Annual Greater Kansas

City Area Vintage Fly-in at Gardner

Municipal (K34). See web for details.Come and enjoy!

LOUISIANA

New Iberia, LA, VAA 30

Meeting: 1st Sun 9:00 a m

Chapter Locatorand infoVisit the VAA

chapter nearest

you and get to

know some great

vintage-airplane

enthusiasts!

You don’t need tobe a pilot to join

in the fun, just have

a love of the

great airplanes

of yesteryear.

JOHN OSTMEYER


8/45

NEBRASKA

Plattsmouth, NE, VAA 31

Meeting: 1st Sat., 10:30 a.m.

Plattsmouth Airport Term Bldg.

William Kroeger, President

Phone: 402-331-3887


NEW HAMPSHIRE

North Hampton, NH, VAA 15

Meeting: 2nd Sat., 11:00 a.m.

Hampton Airfield (7B3)

Eric Obssuth, President

Phone: 603-479-5832E-mail: [email protected]

NEW JERSEY

Andover, NJ, VAA 7

Meeting: 1st Sun, 10:30 a.m.

Aeroflex Andover Airport (12N)

Joe Tapp, President

Phone: 908-872-3821


OHIO

Columbus, OH, VAA 38

Meeting: 2nd Sunday, 1 p.m.

Contact president for location.

Perry Chappano, President

Phone: 614-496-3423


OHIO

Delaware, OH, VAA 27

Meeting: 3rd Sat., 9:00 a.m.

Delaware Municipal Airport (DLZ) Terminal Building

Martin McIntire, President

Phone: 740-362-7228

E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.EAAdlz.org

May 15: 8-10 AM: Fly-In Pancake Breakfast

June 19: 8-10 AM: Fly-In Pancake Breakfast

OHIO

Troy OH VAA 36

OKLAHOMA

Tulsa, OK, VAA 10

Meeting: 4th Thurs., 7:00 PM

Hardesty South Regional Library

Joe Champagne, President

Phone: 918-257-4688Email: [email protected]

TEXAS

Spring, TX, VAA 2

Meeting: 4th Sun., 2:00 PM

David Wayne Hooks Airport (KDWH)

Fred Ramin, President

Phone: 281-444-5309

Email: [email protected]

WISCONSIN

Brookfield, WI, VAA 11

Meeting: 1st Mon., 7:30 PM

Capitol Drive Airport Office (O2C)

James Brown, President

Phone: 262-895-6282

Email: [email protected]

Fall Fly-In at Camden, South Carolina, L-R: Harry Ballance’s Stearman, ToddGivens’ Stearman, Ron Normark’s Super Cub and Chet Phillips’ Fairchild 24.

Buddy Wehman describes the starter on his Fleet 16 at the

Camden 2009 Fly-In.


9/45

FleetCanuck!

Now there’s a term with

wide-ranging applications and meaning. For example, it’s one of the many phrases our friends north of the

border use to describe themselves. For another, it can be a hockey team. Or a Canadian cartoon character

(Johnny Canuck). It can also be an airplane. Three actually: the World War I Curtiss JN-4 Canuck (Jenny, south

of the border); the native-designed and -built jet fighter, the CF-100 Canuck; and lastly, the Fleet Canuck. Ex-

cept the Fleet Canuck isn’t just an airplane. This postwar classic is closer to being an icon. Or a legend. To hard-

core Canadians, it’s more than simply a flying machine. And with 22,270 hours in its logbook, CF-EOH is more

than just a Canuck. It’s a flying witness to the Canadian character: tough, resilient, adaptable, and ready to do

whatever needs doing. It’s a Canuck and then some.


10/45


11/45

Peter Moodie of Winnipeg, Man-

itoba, is typical of Canuck owners

in that he is driven to make certain

everyone knows of Canada’s own

usually find that about half of the

classic airplanes built after World War

II are still on the registration rolls. The

Canuck is a tough, useful airplane, but

The Fleet Canuck is powered by a fuel-injected Continental C-85, and it uses

bungees tucked up in the bottom of

the fuselage to absorb landing loads.

The Fleet Canuck has a distinctive narrow-waisted look to the aft fuselage. That’s

accentuated by the rather wide cabin that can accommodate two people in full winter dress.

CF-EAU has “only” 12,000 hours on it, most of it accumulated during flight

training. Now with a prize-winning restoration and a very capable instrument

panel, it’s “retired” to a life of leisure with Joe Leslie at the controls.


12/45

34,000 hours between them! 34,000

hours! That’s nearly four years aloft.

Airplanes don’t live that long or

work that hard unless they are A)

good at what they do and B) hell for

stout. And the Fleet Canuck is both.

Another interesting aspect to

the Canuck is that it is essentially a

homebuilt airplane that was eventu-

ally put into production. The orig-inal design was laid down by J.O.

“Bob” Noury of Ottawa in 1941-

1942. He had thoughts about put-

ting it into production and got it

certified, but then the unpleasant-

ness in Europe intervened, and he

put his flying prototype away until

the war was starting to wind down.Fleet Aircraft, based in Fort Erie, On-

tario (just across the river from Buf-

falo, New York), was at that time

looking ahead at what it knew was

going to be a challenging future. It

had built itself into a sizable airframe

manufacturing company during the

war, and the cessation of hostilities

meant it was going to be out of work

unless it found something to build.

Enter the Noury N-75.

Recognizing it was less expensive

to rework an existing design than

do one from scratch, Fleet Aircraft

Hey, if you had 22,270 hours on your

airframe, your rudder pedals would be

a bit worn, too!

CF-EOH is well-loved, having accumulated 22,270 hours on the airframe! It’s

owned and flown by Peter Moodie of Winnipeg, Manitoba, who brought it to EAA AirVenture Oshkosh along with his pal Joe Leslie, of Abbotsford, British Columbia.

Peter Moodie with his nice new set of Millennium cylinders that help keep CF-

EOH purring along.


13/45

vertical fin, lowered thrust line),

and rushed it into production pow-

ered by a fuel-injected Continen-

tal C-85-12F 85-hp. The company

didn’t want to miss out on the huge

market that was sure to be repre-

sented by the tens of thousands of

returning GI pilots, all of whom

were going to want an airplane in

their garage. Only it didn’t work

out that way.

Fleet was far fr om being the

only airframe manufacturer to be

fooled, and the huge populationof aircraft built in 1946-1947 (well

more than 30,000) still make up a

sizable proportion of today’s small

aircraft population. Fleet built 198

airplanes before shutting down.

The inventory was sold to Leavens

Brothers, which assembled another

25 airplanes as late as 1958.Peter says, “My airplane was one

of those assembled by Leavens Broth-

ers in 1953. Mine went to Central

Airways flight school in 1953, where

it stayed until sometime in the mid-

’60s. Then it went to the Edmonton

Flying Club. I bought her in 1986,

and she is now semi-retired.“The Canucks really formed the

backbone for the Canadian post-

war flight training. Although that

role has pretty much been taken

over by Cessnas and such, many of

those who made it to the left seats

of Canadian airliners got their start

in Canucks. I know of at least 30 Air

Canada pilots alone who f lew myairplane. And, if I know that many

on just my airplane, how many were

trained on all the others? It has to

be thousands. Although something

like 30 Canucks were exported, most

around 100 feet. He did manage to

keep it straight all the way to the

ground. The impact collapsed the

gear, and there was enough damage

to declare the aircraft a write-off.

That he survived and the airplanewas rebuilt says something about

its overall rugged construction.

“Joe’s airplane also shows how

tough it can be because it survived a

mid-air collision. It’s in the logbook,

and you can see where they spliced

the main spar carry-through tube.”

A casual walk around the air-plane reveals several unique features

about it. For instance, although the

airplane is traditional rag-and-tube

construction, the ailerons are metal-

skinned, and the hinges on the ai-

lerons are external to the wing and

on the top, rather than the bottom.

Also, there’s a fairly sophisticated

piece of tooling evident in that thereis a bead stamped in the aileron sur-

face that goes forward and over the

aileron nose, making the bead into

a compound curve. So the ailerons

were made in stamping dies: pretty

like the Cub’s flat-bottom wing. So,

it doesn’t leap off the ground.

“When Joe got his airplane, it

was pretty rough, and he got to

deal with the fact that the airplane

wasn’t produced in large numbers,so some of the parts are hard to find.

The lift struts, for instance, aren’t

regular streamlined tubing. They are

something Fleet had made specifi-

cally for the Canuck, so, if you need

a strut, you have no choice but to

find an actual Canuck strut.

“The same thing goes for thetrim system. It uses a crank, which

is impossible to find, but Joe found

one. Most Canucks have gone to

a Teleflex helix-wound push-pull

cable, which was done on my air-

plane, too, but the cable is also

hard to find and costs $45 a foot.

As it happens, I found a long, long

piece in a surplus store that wasmade for the Noorduyn Norseman,

and I got the entire thing, enough

to do three airplanes, for $50.

“And then there are the bungees,”

Peter says and frowns. “They are also

The trim system uses this handle and Teleflex cable.


14/45

them. You just pull the wheels, and

the axles slide into sockets on top the

floats. There’s not even a spreader

bar in front. Only in the rear.

“The skis are just as useful and

unique. The entire tire sits on top

the ski in a pocket-like arrange-

ment and is strapped down to the

ski. There are some Federals li-

censed for the Canuck, but they at-

tach like all other skis do, so they

aren’t as convenient.

“The airplane is really a great air-

plane to fly. For one thing, it’s 40inches wide, which, for its time is

quite wide, so both of you can wear

heavy coats and not be jammed in,

although the heater does a fairly

reasonable job of keeping the cabin

huge fun, but you have to be care-

ful slipping to the right with skis

and maintain 75 mph indicated

airspeed because the airspeed read-

ing is not correct in that attitude.

Because of the positive controls

and its wide gear, it is also terrific

in a crosswind. I know people who

would go out and play in 20-knot

direct crosswinds just for the fun of

it. One thing that you don’t expect,

when you first start flying it, is that

it floats quite a bit on landing, so

you can’t come in fast. That’s oneof the effects of the 23012 airfoil: It

doesn’t build up drag very quickly

when you try to slow it down in

ground effect.

“It is stressed for aerobatics, and

when it was being used extensively

for training, it was common for

schools to be teaching loops androlls in it. And of course spins. It’s

really a fun spinning airplane, and

many students made six-turn spins

part of every solo flight.

“You can generally flight plan

95-100 mph, which, at less than 5

gallons per hour and a 19-gallon

fuel tank, means you can fly prettylong legs. The airplane is very sta-

ble, so on cross-countries you can

relax and pretty much let go of it.

“Joe’s airplane is a beautiful ex-

ample of the breed, and mine defi-

nitely isn’t. Truthfully, I sort of like

it that way because I don’t have to

worry about it. I just enjoy it. The

last time it was re-covered was afterit crashed in ’71. They used Razor-

back, so it’s still in pretty good con-

dition. It was repainted in 1980,

and I have changed the struts,

some of the windows, and redone

The Canuck and Its Contemporaries Compared

Fleet 80

Canuck

Aeronca

7AC Champion

Cessna

140

Luscombe

8E Silvaire

Engine (Continental) 85 hp 65 hp 85 hp 85 hp

Cruise mph 100 90 101 95

Initial climb, fpm 550 370 620 640

Service ceiling, ft. 12,000 12,500 15,100 15,500

Takeoff over 50 ft. 800 632 1,950 1,850

Landing over 50 ft. 600 885 1,530 1,540

Gross weight, lbs. 1,480 1,220 1,500 1,400

Empty weight, lbs. 858 740 818 791

Fuel, U.S. gal. 19 14 21 30

Wingspan 34 ft. 35 ft. 33 ft. 3 in. 34 ft. 7 in

Source: Aircraft Blue Book Price Digest , except for the Fleet Canuck fig-

ures, which are from Canadian Aircraft Since 1909 by K.M. Molso and H.A.

Taylor. Landing and takeoff distances for the Canuck are from an old copy

of Canadian Aviation.

. . . the two

airplanes sitting

side by side in the Vintage area at

EAA AirVenture

2009 had a total

of more than

34,000 hours

between them!


15/45

My Friend

Albert Vollmecke Part III

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

Al b e r t Vo l l me c kerose quickly up the

ranks of the Bureau

of Aeronautics and

the Civil Aeronau-

tics Authority, which began in 1938.

portant assignments within thatgoverning body. In 1942 he was

appointed chief of the Aircraft En-

gineering Division. He also served

as senior member of the Air Force-

Navy-Civil Aircraft Design Criteria

production of more efficient and ef-fective aircraft.”

Near the end of World War II,

Howard Hughes was designing

a large wooden seaplane of enor-

mous dimensions. It would be built


16/45

the Culver City plant of Hughes,

where the H-4 Hercules was being

constructed. The limousine driver

would enter the Hughes compound

and park. Then they would just

wait. Vollmecke asked the driver

what they were waiting for, and the

driver replied, “For a signal from

Mr. Hughes.” After a long wait, a

figure would appear from out of a

large hangar, dressed in a dark pair

of slacks with a wrinkled white

shirt with sleeves rolled up and

wearing a hat. After he waived hisarms, the driver started the limou-

sine and they drove to the hangar

door. Hughes was waiting for Voll-

mecke and proudly showed prog-

ress on his gigantic airplane.

During one visit Hughes loaded

Vollmecke aboard his cabin Waco bi-

plane and flew to Baker Lake, whereHughes had a hangar and a Sikor-

sky S-43 seaplane. He was practicing

his flying skills in a large seaplane in

preparation for flying the H-4. Voll-

mecke remembered, “I got into the

right seat, a company pilot occupied

the left seat, and Mr. Hughes was in

the back seat reading a newspaper.We flew in his ‘Vaco’ (that’s the way

Vollmecke pronounced Waco) to

Baker Lake, which was out on the

Mojave Desert on the way to Las Ve-

gas. There we inspected his Sikor-

sky seaplane, but he didn’t fly it. We

returned to Culver City, and I flew

back to D.C.”

Vollmecke made several visits to

the Hughes facility, but on his initialvisit he asked Hughes if his people

had done any structural testing to

assure the design and construction

was safe. No person had ever con-

structed an aircraft as large as the

H-4, particularly out of wood. The

answer was a negative, that all de-

sign data compiled was analytical innature and that no structural test-

ing was needed. Vollmecke said this

was unacceptable to him and the

government, who would ultimately

either pay for the aircraft or cancel

the project. He convinced Hughes

that they should build a sample of

the horizontal stabilizer spar and test

it to destruction. Hughes reluctantly

agreed, and Vollmecke flew back toWashington, D.C.

On the Vollmecke’s ensuing visit

the spar sample was ready, and the

Hughes people had it prepared to test

until it failed. Unfortunately, the spar

failed at only 50 percent of the de-

sign load! Seeing this Vollmecke in-

dicated they would have to redesignthe spar and retest. What the Hughes

people did was glue birch veneer

doublers on each side of the spar,

then retest. On the second attempt

the spar failed at about 75 percent of

the design load. Hughes refused to

go any further, and that was the end

of the tests. Vollmecke always main-

tained he knew why Hughes flew the

Figure 1. The spar of the Hughes H-4 Hercules. G L E N N O

D E K I R K

C O L L E C T

I O N


17/45

airplane only once. “The wing sparswere designed and built exactly as

the horizontal stabilizer spar, only

larger in dimensions. Mr. Hughes

knew if the aircraft was airborne and

hit a gust, the wing spars may fail!”

structure. The horizontal stabilizerwas not mounted directly to the fu-

selage structure, but to the vertical

stabilizer, which was not strength-

ened. So, from Vollmecke’s point of

view, the aircraft was structurally un-

lost! The H-4 was stored in a climate-controlled hangar in San Pedro until

October 30, 1980, when the aircraft

was removed and the hangar disas-

sembled. The photograph on page

13 was taken as the aircraft floated

Airworthiness maintenance inspection note on the

Command-Aire. After realizing one was needed on

the airplanes he had designed earlier in his careerbefore joining the government, as chief of the

Aircraft Engineering Division, Vollmecke wrote and

issued the CAA document!

November 1983, the remaining officials of Command-Aire Inc.,

Charles Taylor (l) and Albert Vollmecke. This last photo of Taylor,

former V.P. of Command-Aire Inc., and Vollmecke, former chief

designer for the company, was taken in Little Rock, Arkansas,

after Albert’s induction into the Hall of Fame in 1983. Behind

them is 1929 Command-Aire 5C3, NC925E, which is presently

on display at the Little Rock Airport in the Omnimax Theater.


18/45

structed mostly of birch veneer).” So

ends the saga of Vollmecke, Hughes,

and the Spruce Goose.

As Vollmecke rose through the

ranks of the CAA he became chief of

the Aircraft Engineering Division in

1942, succeeding Marion F. Crews.

In the name of safety, airworthiness

maintenance bulletins and airworthi-

ness maintenance inspection notes

were issued from this office. Document

on page 14 shows a November 6, 1942,airworthiness maintenance inspection

note signed by Albert A. Vollmecke

on his own aircraft designs when he

worked for Command-Aire Inc. Safety

was the top priority in all Vollmecke

Germany. He was br illiant and a

genius in aeronautical design. He

served this country honorably and

provided great leadership during

the early days of aviation, into the

1960s, and beyond.

I was privileged to have met and

gotten to know Mr. Vollmecke. As is

often said of those who precede us,

there will never be another like him.

Vollmecke was inducted into the

Arkansas Aviation Hall of Fame on No-vember 11, 1983. At the Vollmecke ta-

ble that evening were Albert Vollmecke

Jr., Jan Vollmecke, Eric Vollmecke, Kirk

Vollmecke, Walter Vollmecke, John

Vollmecke, Joe Araldi, Suzanne Goller

N. Holbert was president of the society

at the time, and Charles M. Taylor was

ex-officio director.

During the presentation of AlbertVollmecke for induction into the Ar-kansas Aviation Hall of Fame on No-vember 11, 1983, Mr. Charles Taylor,former vice president of Command-Aire, pretty well summed it up. “Al-bert Vollmecke left Arkansas for theCivil Aeronautics Administration inWashington, D.C., in February 1934,where he remained until his retire-

ment in 1965. I have already outlinedthe assignments and responsibilitieshe was given in that organization inrecognition of his unusual under-standing and practical experience inaircraft design and production withparticular emphasis on safety and reli-ability. These assignments in the CAA

thus made the benefits of his unusualand outstanding qualifications avail-able to the whole civil and militaryaircraft industry in the United States.”

Vollmecke was a member of the

OX-5 Aviation Pioneers. The April

1980 issue of OX-5 News carried a

tribute to Albert A. Vollmecke, aero-

nautical engineer, inventor, and

designer. The front-page story was

about him and stated, “In 1978 Al

Vollmecke’s name went into the

OX-5 Aviation Pioneers Hall of Fame,

as one of many tributes to his accom-

plishments. He is an OX-5er, and a

member of the Q-B’s, and obviously

he holds membership in many aero-

nautical engineering societies. Hehas also received NASA’s Certificate

of Appreciation for his outstanding

contributions to aeronautical engi-

neering, particularly for his work in

connection with structural and re-

Vollmecke with his son

Albert Jr. and his wife,

Jan, at Vollmecke’s

townhouse in Silver

Spring, Maryland,

January 1986. Albert Jr.had just brought a copy

of his father’s drawings

of the Little Rocket

racer, the only drawings

that survived Vollmecke’s

days at Command-Aire.

When Vollmecke walked

out the front door of theCommand-Aire factory

building on East 17th St.

for the last time, he put

all his drawings in the

safe, turned off the lights, put his neatly rolled Little Rocket drawings under his arm,

and locked the door. The company ceased to exist in 1931. Below, a fuzzy copy of the

title block of drawing number 5680 compiled by Albert Vollmecke for the Little Rocket

racer. This particular drawing was of the “Wheel with shock absorber,” a unique

invention credited to Albert. It was drawn to full scale on June 2-3, 1930.


19/45

Nowadays nearly all new

and fairly new airplanes

have electric or elec-tronic everything: au-

topilots, cowl flaps, trim tabs,

spoilers, and wing flaps, to name a

few, all activated by little switches

and electric motors.

But if you fly an older airplane

like I do, many of those items are

manually operated using levers, ca-bles, pulleys, and control wheels.

My airplane is a Cessna 170B. It

rolled out of the Wichita, Kansas,

Cessna factory in 1954 and came

equipped with large Fowler-type

flaps that rotate downward as they

travel backward and down to assume

as much as a 40-degree angle on the

flap tracks. At the 40-degree position,

these flaps allow for a very steep de-

scent into short fields. Newer Cess-

nas limit flap travel to 30 degrees.

Most folks agree that the company

made the limitation because with 40

degrees of flaps extended, there is es-

sentially no climb capability during a

go-around attempt.Manually activated flaps such as

the type installed in my airplane are

applied by pulling up on a long lever

that most pilots refer to as a “John-

son bar.” The use of these “Johnson

they could give me on landing and

takeoff techniques in remote areas.

That’s where I learned about using atime/distance chart to determine the

length of airstrips in the boondocks.

The floatplane and skiplane pilots

also gave me some advice on short-

ening a takeoff run by using the

flaps to break the water surface ten-

sion on the floats or help the wing

pull the skis up through deep snow.By quickly using 20 degrees of flaps

at just the right moment, you can

use the added lift to your advantage.

I was able to use that technique with

both skis and on wheels.

GROUND EFFECT As aviators we have probably

all experienced “floating” upon

landing, which can result in over-

shooting your landing spot. Under

certain long-landing conditions,

especially at a faster than normal

approach speed, the results can be

disastrous as you run off the run-

way into all types of obstructions.

This “floating” is caused by groundeffect. When an airplane is flown atapproximately one wingspan or lessabove the surface, the vertical com-ponent of airflow is restricted andmodified, and changes occur in the

the pilot’s help, this effect can lift

the airplane sooner, thus shorten-

ing the takeoff run. The key is usingyour flaps at just the right moment.

THE TECHNIQUEYou all know that your pilot’s oper-

ating handbook lists the takeoff and

landing performance using various

flap settings and airspeeds under dif-

ferent elevations and temperatures.By extending the flaps, wing cam-

ber is increased, and the angle of at-

tack of the wing is increased. With

Fowler flaps the wing area is also

increased. This increases wing lift,

but is also increases induced drag.

The important consideration here

for short-field takeoff is to use just

enough flaps (10 or 20 degrees) to

increase lift more than induced drag

and to apply the flaps quickly when

needed. That is where the Johnson

bar flap handle does its job. Electric

flaps are too slow for this purpose.

The technique involves taxiing

your airplane to the very end of

a short-field airstrip and, if possi-ble, facing into the wind. Then the

brakes are set and maximum take-

off power is applied. The brakes are

released, and forward stick pressure

is applied to lift the tail. Then, just

Ground EffectUse manual flaps to hop off soonerBY IRVEN F. PALMER JR.


20/45

let the airspeed build up to the best

angle of climb (VX) airspeed while

you’re in ground effect, before you

start to climb out of ground effect.

WARNING: Never pull in more than

20 degrees of flaps, as the in-

duced drag will overcome in-

creased lift.

After learning about the quick

application of flaps technique, I

used to practice doing this at myhome base, a gravel bar airstrip in

the river, and at other places out in

the boonies. I’d suggest you practice

using a nearby strip of turf, gravel,

or unimproved legal runway!

Depending on the temperature,

surface, and takeoff weight, of

course, it was possible to get off theground in one-half to two-thirds of

the normal takeoff distance listed

in the airplane’s performance chart.

THE DISAPPEARING BEACH

Fly back in time now to a Fourth

of July three-day weekend in Alaska.

It was a perfect time to go on an off-

airport camping and fishing trip. My

friend Bill Lyle and I talked about

where to go. We finally decided that

since the king salmon were entering

the many streams along the Alaska

Peninsula that empty into the Bering

Sea, that was to be our destination.

After work on Friday we loaded

on our camping and fishing gear,food, the survival kit, and two

5-gallon cans of avgas into my

Cessna, filed our flight plan, and

took off. Leaving our home in An-

chorage, we flew south and south-

we both had strikes and reeled in

a couple of nice king salmon. For

an hour we played catch and re-

lease. We had used up most of the

evening, so we kept a small jacksalmon, which we cleaned and

roasted on our evening fire. We set

up our little tent and watched a

lone caribou walk along the other

side of the river, watching us, per-

haps wondering who or what we

were. He must have wandered away

from the herd. It was a great first

day in the boondocks.

The next day we explored the

village. Bear River used to be a

viable fishing village complete

with a Russian Orthodox Church,

many houses, abandoned shops

and stores, and a school. The

shifting Bear River had changed

its course and eliminated thesmall harbor, and the little town

had been abandoned. It was an

antique dealer’s paradise, with

all sorts of household items lying

about within the buildings.

and deciding where to go next.

It was a great second day in the

boonies.

The next day Bill wanted to ex-

plore further south, so we loaded ourgear, took off, and landed at a couple

more small streams. The first stream

was a bust—no fish. But the second

stream was full of kings. In this part

of the Alaska Peninsula there are

large beach dunes, and dune cliffs

break up the beach.

Prior to landing I had slowed to

60 mph and used my stopwatch to

determine the length of the beach,

which according to the time/dis-

tance chart was about 900 feet. (Ed-

itor’s Note: If you’ve never used this

method to estimate the length of a land-

ing area, we’ll explain it in more de-

tail in a follow-up article.—HGF) As I

parked the plane near the mouth ofthis stream, I noticed that the stream

had cut through a dune and that the

dune contained some pebbles and

cobbles, a probable sign that it was

part of an older river system. I also

When used with proper technique, the large flaps on the Cessna

170 give the airplane excellent short-field performance.


21/45

out of the north. We spent about two

hours at some of the best salmon

fishing I’d ever had. The clouds

looked more menacing, so we de-

cided to leave. We caught a couple

nice 30-pounders to take home andwalked to the beach.

Big surprise! Our long, wide beach

had disappeared. We could hardly be-

lieve it. The tide in the Bering Sea is

not that great, but the beach here had

a very shallow gradient. That means a

little rise in the water level can cover

a vast amount of beach, and it had.

I quickly paced off the remaining

beach. My pace is about 2.8 feet. I

took 152 steps from one end to the

other. That calculates to 425 feet. I

knew we had burned about 22.4 gal-

lons of fuel in the 230 nautical miles

since leaving King Salmon. That

equals 141 pounds.

Since we were 175 pounds un-der gross at takeoff at home, we

were now relatively light. We did

not have enough fuel to return to

King Salmon, especially against the

north wind I judged to be about

gravel. The wind was out of the north.

Under these conditions I knew I had

taken off before in a similar distance

by using flaps at just the right time.

We taxied to the south end of

the beach with the tail wheel in thewater. I set the brakes, applied full

power, released the brakes and raised

the tail, and quickly used up all the

425 feet of beach. Just before the

wheels touched the water I reached

down and pulled in 20 degrees of

flaps using that Johnson bar handle.

The plane lifted into the air a few

inches above the water, and we were

flying in ground effect. Remember, the

tricky part is not to attempt to climb

yet. We waited until the airspeed built

up to over 70 mph and slowly re-

tracted the flaps as we flew north. We

flew to Bear Lake where the Bear River

starts and stopped off at the Bear River

Lodge, operated by Don Johnson, awell-known Alaskan guide who Bill

and I both know. Don gave us enough

gasoline to get us to King Salmon. We

decided we’d had enough fun on this

trip and flew home.

wind. Your airplane performance

may be different.

A long time ago in ground school

you probably learned about the

left-turning tendency of American-

manufactured airplanes. The forcesthat produce these tendencies are

the reactive force, spiraling slip-

stream, gyroscopic precession, and

P-factor. All of these cause the plane

to want to turn left when take-

off power is applied. Lots of right

rudder is often needed. So if you

are taking off from a sloping river

gravel bar or an ocean beach with

a steep gradient, try to take off so

that the left-turning tendency is up

the beach—not down the beach,

pulling you into the water.

PRACTICE

As you know, there is nothing bet-

ter to keep us all sharp and safe whenusing our airplanes practice. So I sug-

gest that for those of you thatwho

have manual flaps in your airplane,

practice using them as discussed

above. Find a country road or some

The Johnson bar—style of manual flap handle is com-

mon to the early post-war Cessnas and Piper airplanes.

At full extension, the flap handle will be up about 45 degrees.

The button on the top releases the locking mechanism.


22/45

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23/45

It had been a responsive audience, that snowy

winter evening when I spoke at the December

meeting of the Glens Falls Aircraft Owners and

Pilots Association. Among the many subjects I

covered was a description of my success in finding sev-

eral very interesting old airplanes in upstate New York.

The first one, and the one that convinced me the

search was worth pursuing, was the Thomas HeadlessPusher, made by the Thomas Brothers of Bath, New York,

in 1912. I had been successful in buying it and, eventu-

ally, passing it to Cole Palen of Old Rhinebeck fame, who

had restored it, flown it, and finally retired it to his mu-

seum on the hill behind his airport.

New York, who built and flew it that year with as many

as three aboard. This plane is currently being restored by

members of Empire State Aerosciences Museum (ESAM),

located in the Schenectady County Airport.

A more recent find (1986) is an excellent example of a

homebuilt Chanute hang glider, long stored in a garage

in Amsterdam, New York. The workmanship is superb; it

must have been built by a cabinetmaker. It is impossibleto establish just when it was built, but I’m certain that it

is extremely old—its fabric covering had been varnished,

as was the custom in the days of Curtiss and the Wright

brothers. The fabric was so deteriorated that in places it

had cracked open from the sheer weight of the collected

Light Plane Heritage

published in EAA Experimenter November 1989

THE BELLANCA BIPLANES

J MR

EAA

Clarence Chamberlin’s Bellanca CE at Glens Falls,

New York, the West Mountains in the background.


24/45

one gentleman was left, and he had

obviously planned it this way. This

man had seemed especially interested

in what I had been saying. He glanced

around before speaking, seemingly to

be sure we were not being overheard.“I know of a very old airplane located

within just a few miles of here.” ZAP!

My mind focused on what my new

friend was saying as it would have at

the reading of the will of a recently de-

ceased wealthy uncle. “This plane has

been stored in a barn near here for a

long, long time. The people who ownthis barn are the parents of a good

friend of mine. I have been aware of

it for years but have never been al-

lowed to see it, but I believe it may be

an important one so far as the history

of aviation is concerned. These people

and their ancestors have lived on this

property for over 200 years, and theyinsist on their privacy. They believe

this airplane was the one that Clarence

Chamberlin used to fly the Atlantic,

back whenever that may have been.”

I was quite skeptical; a Bellancanamed Columbia with a Wright en-gine had successfully flown the At-lantic in the hands of ClarenceChamberlin shortly after Lindbergh’ssuccess in 1927. That ship had goneon to capture many other records insucceeding years only to meet its endin a fire in another barn somewhere.But I didn’t say so. Instead I said,“When I hear of something like this,I find it doesn’t pay to procrastinate;

I like to move immediately. I’ve lostseveral chances for a great airplaneby postponing just a bit. I proposethat we go there right away—tonight,if it’s possible.” My new friend said,“I’m afraid that is impossible. These

content with it for the present. Tenlong days later we finally met again

and traveled to the barn.

The grandparents and their son

greeted us warmly, reflecting the

groundwork that had been done by

my new friend, and soon we were all

climbing an extension ladder to gain

access to the hayloft of the barn.

As my eyes slowly adapted to the

low light level, I was disappointed at

what I was able to see. In my imagi-

nation, I had conjured a picture of

a complete airplane, engine hung,

wing panels suspended carefully

from the roof, everything just wait-

ing to be dusted off and towed to the

airport to be assembled and blithelyflown around the pattern.

What I actually saw, when my eyes

became completely accustomed to

the gloom, was a pair of small wing

panels (both lefts, for a biplane) that

the tip to the spar fittings. If the toppanels butted into a cabane arrange-ment, the span would be around 26to 27 feet. The spacing between thespars of the wings was 24 inches up-

per and 14-1/2 inches lower. This hadbeen quite a small biplane.

The grandfather said, “When this

plane was first stored here, it was

a complete flying machine, with a

small radial engine on the front. We

kids used to sit in it and make be-

lieve we were flying it through the

air. I don’t know what happened tothe rest of it; bit by bit, it has just

kind of disappeared.”

Letdown best describes my mood

about then. What had happened to

the plane that was supposed to have

flown the Atlantic in 1928?

I was just about to leave when I no-

ticed a large packing crate, measuring1 foot by 4 feet by 15 feet lying on itsside. Wiping off some of the dust, wewere astonished to read the words:“To: C.D. Chamberlain, c/o The Ex-press Station, C.O.D. - $936.50, From:Maryland Pressed Steel Company,Hagerstown, Maryland.”

Well, now. This was interesting!

Unfortunately, the crate was empty,

except for an interplane strut made of

wood in a streamlined form. However,

this strut was like no other one I had

ever seen: Its trailing edge had been

routed out to form a groove its entire

length; at its midpoint and trailing to-

ward the rear was a pulley mounted on

a bracket in such a way that the tan-gent of the pulley was nearly touching

the trailing edge of that strut. Its pur-

pose was obvious: It was a “keeper” to

keep the aileron cable (which was car-

ried in this groove) from slipping out

Pulley at trailing edge of interplane

strut holds aileron cable in slot. This

was the strut found in the loft of a

Glens Falls area barn—possibly the re-

mains of Chamberlin’s CE.


25/45

In effect, I “filed it and forgot it!”

Now the few details of which I had

been aware came flooding back.

If it was true that the photos I re-

ceived had been taken near this lo-

cation (and the steep hills in the

background seemed to bear this out),

why would Chamberlin have had

this little plane here? At the time I

had been given these photos I wasmystified and inclined to doubt the

farmer’s story. Now, here I was again,

within a mile or two of the same

place in another barn, looking at

components of a Bellanca biplane,

After arriving back at home, I dug

out my Bellanca files and boned up

on this man’s career. Giuseppe Mario

Bellanca was a native of Sicily, born

March 19, 1886, in the little village

of Sciacca. He was physically small,

reaching, finally, the height of 5

feet 5 inches. But his mental stature

was considerably greater, as history

would bear out.As a youth, he studied engineer-

ing beginning in 1904. He earned his

degree after studying at The Royal

Technical Institute and the Politec-

nico di Milano. He was intrigued

and he emigrated to America in Sep-

tember of 1912. His Uncle August,

who had preceded him there, arranged

backing for further research, and soon

the Bellanca Aircraft Corporation had

been established, with one Fiorello La-Guardia as legal counsel. The “factory”

was set up in the basement of the Bel-

lanca home in Brooklyn.

Early in the spring of 1931, Bel-

lanca’s first brainchild was finished

to the point where more room was

needed for its assembly, so a shed

in Mineola was rented and the proj-ect moved there. What he had was

a wire-braced monoplane whose fu-

selage consisted of a pair of rectan-

gular wooden longerons, one above

the other, braced with vertical mem-

bers and more wire. The pilot sat in a

bucket seat below and behind a 30-

hp Anzani Y engine.Slowly, on calm days, Bellanca

taught himself to fly at the fields

then in existence: Belmont Park,

Hempstead, and Garden City. His

was quite a different configuration

than most being flown at that time,

and as a result he took considerable

ribbing about it, but when he was

satisfied that he was ready to go, he

did so, very successfully.

In the following year, 1914, he set

up a flying school, taking on all com-

ers. By stretching his parasol a bit and

swapping the engine for the more

powerful 45-hp Anzani, he had a bet-

ter trainer in which he, in 1915, taught

LaGuardia to fly. This man was later tocommand an American Aero Squad-

ron in Italy and still later to become

the mayor of New York City.

In the summer of 1916, Bellanca

crossed paths with an executive of

Bellanca CE: 55-hp Anzani; span, 28 feet; length, 18-1/2 feet; wing area, 163-

4/5 square feet; empty weight, 470 pounds; gross weight, 900 pounds; top

speed, 97 mph; climb, 600 fpm; range, 300 miles.


26/45

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men who aspired to learn to fly.

The aircraft that he produced inHagerstown was designated the Bel-lanca Model CD, powered with theleftover 30-hp Anzani engine. It couldtheoretically carry two persons, sincethere was a front cockpit, but it was

not fitted out for a passenger. It had awingspan of 26 feet and weighed just400 pounds, and it flew very well.Lateral control was achieved by warp-ing the wings, as used by the Wrights.It was well streamlined, with a topspeed of 75 mph, much faster thansimilar designs of the same power.

In 1919 the Model CE was in-

troduced that was a true two-place

sport plane, with a 55-hp Anzani en-

gine that made it perform at gross

weight even better than the single-

seat model of 30 hp. This one com-

bined economy of operation with

a rate of climb of 620 fpm and top

speed of 102 mph with passenger.

Landing speed was less than 40 mph.The Model CE used ailerons on the

upper wing instead of wing warp-

ing with resulting improvement in

firmness of construction and liveli-

ness of response to the controls. The

berlin, saw an ad in Aerial Age Weekly

magazine dated May 3, 1920, in which

the American-French Aero Exposition

Company announced it was forming

a group that would supply air shows

to anyone who was in the market. Pi-

lots who had their own airplanes were

advised to appear in person at a prear-ranged date at Glens Falls to demon-

strate their aerobatic skills and then to

be signed up for the season.

Both Hennicke and Chamberlin

responded, the former taking his Ca-

nuck (a Jenny with ailerons on both

top and bottom wings, Canadian

style), and the latter, his Bellanca CE.

Chamberlin arrived there in good

shape, but Hennicke had an incident

en route near the city of Hudson,

and his Canuck was totaled.

It seems quite likely that the pho-

tos that were given to me were taken

near Glens Falls at that time, in 1920,

that it was damaged later and that

it was stored from that day onward.This is only conjecture, but doesn’t

it seem likely in view of what “Slim”

Hennicke has told me? I think I’ll set-

tle for this explanation.

The Smithsonian Institution has

great success in Maryland, Pennsyl-

vania, New Jersey, and New York.

‘My rates were $15 a hop for straight

flying,’ he (Bellanca) recalled in Re-

cord Flights, his autobiography, ‘and

$25 a ride if the passenger wantedto “get the works.” Most of them

preferred stunt flights, first, because

they wanted to get a “real thrill”,

and secondly, because it soon be-

came apparent that my little Bel-

lanca biplane did a lot more things

than the other barnstorming planes

which were war surplus stock andquite clumsy by comparison. Even

those who had been up before were

frequently enticed by the swiftness

and maneuverability of my ship

into spending their money for an-

other ride.’”

The high regard of this former

Army pilot for the graceful biplanesled him to buy up the remaining par-

tially completed CE biplanes at auc-

tion prices after Maryland Pressed

Steel closed its doors. Sadly, not one

Bellanca CE remains in existence.

Lately, I’ve been daydreaming

about this pretty little biplane and

wondering—could it just be, after all,

that these nice private people mightjust possibly reconsider and present

what is left of this sole remaining ex-

ample of the Bellanca Model CE to

the Empire State Aerosciences Mu-

seum for restoration? That would be

an inordinately extensive (and ex-

pensive) project, but with dedica-

tion, it could be done.

Editor’s Note: We’ve never heard a

follow-up concerning the disposition of

the parts of the CE; if any members have

additional information on the Bellanca

Clarence Chamberlin and the CE. The rear interplane strut has the pulley at its trail-

ing edge that identifies this plane, the same as the interplane strut found in the barn.


28/45

In the previous issue we discussed fixed- and

ground-adjustable pitch propellers, both wood

and steel. Now it’s time to look at some gen-

eral information regarding aircraft propellers;

I trust that you will find it informative. A few

subjects to be addressed are:How do I know what prop fits my particular

airplane?

Where can I find information about a particular

prop?

What is type design data and where can I locate

such data?

What are “yellow tags,” and what do they tell me?

What is static rpm, and why is that important?

And we’ll include other issues that are of importance.

TYPE DESIGN DATA: This is data the original

manufacturer used to build the airplane. Approved

type certificates (ATCs) date back to March 1927 when

ATC No. 1 was issued to Buhl-Verville to build the J4

Airster. Type design data consists of drawings, engi-

neering data, and any other kind of detailed informa-

tion needed to construct an aircraft or component thathad been awarded the ATC.

Why does that matter to us in our prop discussion?

The approved propeller type specific to that particular

airplane is included in the type design data. Sometimes

this data is easy to find, but more often it is very dif-

source—a U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of

Air Commerce document dated July 1, 1934, “Airwor-

thiness Requirements for Engines & Propellers.” It is

Aeronautics Bulletin No. 7-G and, at that time, was the

source for data to obtain a type certificate (TC) for an

engine or propeller.Chapter II deals with “Aircraft Propeller Require-

ments.” Section 19 of the chapter deals with com-

mercial propellers. Manufacturers are to submit: “(1)

Application for approved type certificate, in dupli-

cate, submitted on forms which will be furnished for

the purpose by the Secretary (Daniel C. Roper). (2) A

complete set of drawings descriptive of the propel-

ler, in duplicate. (3) A complete log, covering the

tests outlined in paragraphs (B) or (C) of this sectionaccompanied by an affidavit. (4) A stress analysis

as required in conjunction with flight testing, (B)

Tests required for propellers other than fixed pitch

wood propeller: (1) Propellers of this type shall be

subjected to a 50-hour endurance block test on an

internal-combustion engine, rigidly mounted, of

the same general characteristics as the engines upon

which the propellers are to be used in service. Sec-tion 16 (C): When an approved type certificate is

granted, one set of drawings is impressed with the

seal of the Department of Commerce and is returned

to the manufacturer to be used in the construction

of his propellers. The other set is placed in the De-

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

My thoughts on aircraft propellers

Part II

THE Vintage

Mechanic


29/45

AIRCRAFT SPECIFICATIONS: Aircraft specifica-

tions were produced by the CAA and are the source

for type design data. Included in the aircraft specifi-

cations is a list of approved equipment that could be

installed on the aircraft, including the propeller(s).

In most cases specific hub and blade numbers and amanufacturer can be found. When wood propellers

were approved, a minimum/maximum diameter was

specified and a static minimum/maximum rpm was

given. Static power is maximum rpm at full throttle

with the aircraft not moving. Therefore, several types

of wood props could be used as long as they met the

above length and static rpm specs. If the type design

data doesn’t appear in the aircraft specifications, it iscontained within the aircraft listing.

AIRCRAFT LISTING: When there are 50 or fewer

aircraft registered, the type design data appears in the

aircraft listing. This very condensed version of type

design data isn’t detailed enough for the mechanic

when determining what type of prop was originally

used. For example, the publication will show: Pro-peller—adjustable metal. It will not give the specific

manufacturer or type. That’s not very helpful, so

where does one go next?

PROPELLER LISTING: The propeller listing con-

tains type design data for older propellers that are no

longer around “en masse.” Some of the data that can

be gleaned from this publication is maximum/mini-

mum diameter, blade and hub part numbers, maxi-mum horsepower for hub and blades, serial numbers

eligible, etc. Also shown is the propeller ATC number

for the hub and blades.

CAA AIRWORTHINESS FILE: Most airworthi-

ness and registration files are available for a specific

aircraft on microfiche (now available on CD-ROM). If

one searches through the file to locate inspection forms,the Department of Commerce or CAA inspector usually

listed the prop by manufacturer, make, and model. For

instance, a search of the record file for the New Standard

D-25, serial number 105, registration number NC9756,

shows that it was powered by a Wright J-5 engine and

it changed the rules and added a category to TCs called

supplemental type certificates (STCs). If someone

other than the manufacturer of the airplane changed

the type design data, that person could go through a

lengthy process and eventually receive an STC. One

could consult the Summary of Supplemental Type Cer-tificates to check whether a particular prop had been

approved for installation on the specific aircraft. If

no data could be located in any of the previously dis-

cussed data, the last choice is FAA field approval.

FIELD APPROVAL: CAA inspectors were used to

grant field approvals for major changes in type design,

and so the airworthiness file for the specific aircraftmay contain a previously issued field approval for a

propeller installation. Today, it is much more difficult

to secure FAA field approval for propeller changes. I re-

ally don’t want to go into FAA field approvals, because

it’s not clear to me exactly what the FAA’s current pol-

FIGURE 1


30/45

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31/45

propeller repair stations. In order to overhaul old pro-

pellers, the shop must have type design data and even

have blade profile data. Before purchasing a propeller,

make sure you get the hub and blade numbers and

check with a prop shop to assure it has the data tooverhaul such a prop.

Let me detail an example of a potential problem:

My son Rob found a set of blades for a Hamilton Stan-

dard 5406 ground-adjustable propeller for sale on the

Internet. The blade numbers didn’t match any data in

the propeller listing. In fact the blades were not manu-

factured by Hamilton Standard. I began checking with

known prop shops that overhauled these older props,and nobody had any data on the blades. The result was

that nobody could overhaul and certify the blades. So

for us they were useless! When propeller components,

or the entire assembly, are overhauled, the component

parts are “yellow tagged.”

friendly A&P mechanic for in-

stallation and the appropriate

entry into the logbook.

PROPELLER INSTALLA-

TION: The prop can be in-stalled by an A&P mechanic,

a “P” mechanic, or the propel-

ler repair station. The propeller

should be torqued according

to manufacturer’s instruction.

A 30-spline prop is torqued

to the weight of a 180-pound

man on a 4-foot bar, or 720foot-pounds. A 20-spline prop

is torqued to 480 foot-pounds,

the equivalent of a 200-pound

person on a 2.4-foot bar. Af-

ter torquing, a safety device

such as a clevis pin or AN

bolt, should be installed in the

hub so, in case the safety de-

vice fails, centrifugal force will

hold the pin/bolt in place. The

pin or bolt should be “slightly”

loose so you can check it on

every preflight inspection. If the bolt or pin is tight,

the prop may be loosening on the shaft. The mechanic

should also check propeller track to assure proper dy-

namic balance.

In the powerplant logbook, an entry should be madeshowing powerplant total time, time since major over-

haul, and, if the propeller is a different type from what

had been previously installed, the signature of the

person approving and releasing the aircraft for return-

to-service and a change to the weight-and-balance in-

formation and equipment list, if required.

PROPELLER LOG: New propellers will be furnishedwith a prop logbook. However, older props do not have

logs. The FAA requested that I provide a prop log for a

Hamilton Standard ground-adjustable propeller manu-

factured in the early 1930s. I refused because there was

no way to estimate total time, number of repairs, etc. So

FIGURE 2


32/45

rpm.” If one operates the engine in

this region, a very high-pitched vi-

bration may be felt in the airframe.

That is the harmonic, and it can be

dangerous. Harmonics will be as-

sociated with specific propellers in-stalled on specific engines.

This information will hopefully

be helpful when the subject is air-

craft propellers. It is imperative that

the prop be matched correctly to

the airframe and powerplant. Since

the airframe manufacturer selects

both the engine and prop for theairplane, harmonic vibration is a

strong consideration. Changes to

the original type design are criti-

cal and should be made with great

care. Using the approved prop(s) is

closely associated with the safety of

the airplane and longevity of the

engine. To further illustrate prob-

lems with vibrations associated

with propellers, one must examine

FAA AD 54-12-02. This directive

applies to all McCauley propellers

having 41D5926 or D-1093 hubs

with SS-135-6 or SS-138-6 blades.

The first number of the AD (54)

tells us that the AD was issued in

1954, or 56 years ago. The word-ing in the directive is interesting,

so I’ll duplicate it here to show a

point. “On the basis of satisfactory

vibration stress surveys conducted

on the 102-inch diameter con-

figuration, these propellers were

approved vibration wise for in-

stallation on the Continental W-670-6A, W-670-6N and Lycoming

R-680 engines. When installed on

the Continental engine, the pro-

peller must be indexed in the 0 de-

gree position (blades in line with

through the engine mount to the

airframe, and other parts of the

airplane will “shake.” Heavy sym-

pathetic vibrations can be felt in

the pilot’s seat, but are more com-

monly felt or seen in the instru-ment panel, throttle quadrant, etc.

Some engines require that a wood

prop be installed on the hub with

blades at 90 degrees to the crank-

throw. The hub will be indexed to

the prop shaft by a master spline,

but the prop can be mounted at the

90-degree point by the mechanic.

With the piston on top dead cen-

ter on the No. 1 cylinder, the prop

should be installed in the horizon-

tal position. This procedure is a

method to control unwanted vibra-tions between the crankshaft and

the propeller.

This ends our discussion of

propellers for this issue. Hope-

fully I have passed along some

helpful information that you will

find interesting.

V


33/45

Could you pass a private pilot

flight test today if you had to?

Attaining and maintaining flight

proficiency is sometimes easier said

than done. We live in a fast-paced

world: time, expense, weather, busi-

ness, and family commitments—all

keep one away from the airport more

than desired.

The biennial flight review (BFR)

helps all general aviation pilots main-

tain some level of proficiency to fly

safely. But the BFR is not a pass/fail

endeavor; it is a review and is only a

means to determine if you are reason-

ably safe when operating your aircraft.

Spring will soon be here (I’m writ-ing this the day before Groundhog

Day, and based on the forecast, there

will be six more weeks of winter), and

we’re all beginning to feel the “itch”

to get our airplanes ready for the

summer flying season. But are you

getting yourself ready for the season?

Be totally honest with yourself fora moment. Stand in front of your

bathroom mirror and ask yourself,

“If I had to, could I take a private

pilot checkride today and perform

each of the required maneuvers to the

we make up a very small portion of

the populated universe. In fact, when

lumping all pilots together in one

group, we make up less than one-

tenth of 1 percent of the U.S. popula-

tion…and considerably less than that

when looking at global numbers!

What does this mean to each of

us? Every one of us has a vital re-

sponsibility to fly as safely and pro-

ficiently as we possibly can because,

as a small group, when our activi-

ties result in an incident, it becomes

national headlines. These incidents

cause fear among the nonflying pop-

ulation and more regulation from

the ever-present FAA.Striving to be a better, safer, and

more proficient pilot should be a

goal of the highest level and is a re-

sponsibility that we each need to

take seriously every time we fly.

Let’s look at the common private

pilot maneuvers and what the FAA

requirements are to demonstrateeach satisfactorily. Since you took

your private pilot checkride, some

of the maneuvers may have been

changed, either in terminology or in

minimum standards.

•Establish a pitch attitude that

will maintain VY +10/-5 knots.

•Maintain takeoff power and VY+10/-5 knots to a safe maneuver-

ing altitude.

•Maintain directional control

and proper wind-drift correction

throughout the takeoff and climb.

Based on experience, I can testify

that many pilots are quite sloppy

when performing each of the above

tasks during the takeoff.

Though not stated in the PTS, the

FAA and most all FAA Designated

Examiners now want the pilot to

make slight S-turns while maintain-

ing a constant climb speed. This al-lows the pilots to diligently scan

the area in front of the nose for

other aircraft. Previously we were

taught to climb straight ahead un-

til reaching approximately 500 feet

above ground level (AGL), then

lower the nose and scan for traffic

before continuing our departurefrom the traffic pattern.

Slow FlightThis maneuver was once called

“Minimum Control Airspeed” and

BY Steve Krog, CFI

How’s your flight proficiency?

THE VintageInstructor

d t t d t t l fli ht t t h i t Forward Slip to a Landing


34/45

dates to demonstrate slow flight,

most will look at me and say, “I

haven’t done this since my last BFR.”

This is an excellent maneuver to

know and really understand your air-

plane, and it is a maneuver that canbe used when flying into a busy pan-

cake breakfast. Practice and know

how to perform this maneuver.

Medium and Steep TurnsYou might be asking yourself,

“How can this be so difficult? I do

this all the time.” However, whenwas the last time you established

a bank angle and altitude and per-

formed the turn?

The PTS states for the steep turn

that you must:

•Roll into a coordinated 360-

degree turn and maintain a con-

stant 45-degree bank.

•Maintain the entry altitude

±100 feet; airspeed ±10 knots; bank

±5 degrees; and roll out on the en-

try heading ±10 degrees.

Most BFR candidates will be un-

able to maintain their altitude and,

once realizing this, will decrease the

bank angle while chasing the alti-

tude and finally roll out well beyondthe entry heading. It isn’t a difficult

maneuver, but it does require prac-

tice to maintain proficiency.

Power-Off StallsThis stall was previously called

the “Approach to Landing Stall,”

but that phrase had a negative con-notation, so the FAA changed it

back to the “Power Off Stall,” a de-

scription used from the time of the

Wright brothers until the 1950s.

A private pilot candidate must

correct recovery techniques, return

to a straight-and-level flight atti-

tude with a minimum loss of alti-

tude appropriate for the airplane.

When was the last time you prac-

ticed a power-off stall? Probablyduring your BFR flight two years

prior—at least that is the response

I usually hear when I ask a BFR can-

didate to perform the same. There

are two mistakes commonly made

when demonstrating this stall: first,

not recognizing the stall and initi-

ating a recovery before the stall ac-tually occurs, and second, pushing

the nose over and diving at mother

earth, losing an exorbitant amount

of altitude. Remember, this stall is

most likely to occur in the traffic

pattern close to the ground. At a safe

altitude, practice this stall using the

recovery technique of lowering the

nose just below the horizon line.

Power-On StallsFor reference, this stall was once

referred to as the “Take Off and

Departure Stall,” but the negative

connotation caused the FAA to re-

identify it as the “Power On Stall.”

The key points in the PTS areidentical to the power off stall:

•Maintain a specified heading

±10 degrees when performing the

stall straight ahead.

•Maintain a specified angle of

bank not to exceed 20 degrees, ±10

degrees, in turning flight while in-

ducing the stall.•Recognize the stall; then using

correct recovery techniques, return

to a straight-and-level flight atti-

tude with a minimum loss of alti-

tude appropriate for the airplane.

Forward Slip to a Landing This maneuver is a require-

ment of the private pilot checkride

whether flying an aircraft with flaps

or not. The PTS lists eight objectives

for evaluating the forward slip. Thekey objectives include:

•Establish the slipping attitude

at the point from which a land-

ing can be made using the recom-

mended approach and landing

configuration and airspeed while

adjusting pitch attitude and power

as required.•Maintain a ground track

aligned with the runway center/

landing path and an airspeed,

which results in minimum float

during the roundout.

•Touch down smoothly at the

approximate stalling speed, at or

within 400 feet beyond a specified

point, with no side drift, and with

the airplane’s longitudinal axis

aligned with and over the runway

center/landing path.

Many pilots flying antique- and

classic-type aircraft are quite famil-

iar with the slip and use it regularly

when landing, but I still encounter

many who haven’t performed a slipin years. The single biggest error I see

during the BFR is allowing the nose

to dip or drop while establishing

and maintaining the slip. Airspeed

then increases, and the landing is

well beyond the 400 feet limit as

outlined in the PTS. Another error

I encounter is the pilot’s fixation onthe airspeed indicator. Remember,

the pitot tube is providing an erro-

neous reading on the airspeed dur-

ing the slip. Establishing the correct

nose attitude is critical to maintain-


35/45

Send your answer to EAA,

Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086,Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your

answer needs to be in no later

than April 15 for inclusion in

the June 2010 issue of Vintage

Airplane .You can also send your re-

sponse via e-mail. Send your

answer to [email protected] .

Be sure to include your name

plus your city and state in thebody of your note and put“(Month) Mystery Plane” in the

subject line.

by H.G. FRAUTSCHY

MYSTERY PLANE

This month’s Mystery Plane comes to us from Jack Austin ofFlorence, South Carolina. We promise an extensive

Mystery Plane Extra article in the June issue on this one!


36/45

gasoline engines, and his company

also built engine pi

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