Vintage Airplane - Sep 2010

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Sep 2010

1/44

SEPTEMBER 2010


2/44

EAA AirVenture Osh-

kosh 2010 was an

a ma z i ng e v e nt .

Amazing in so many ways that it’s

challenging for me to put it all in

words that will allow the reader to

fully comprehend what occurred

behind the scenes that allowed us

to meet all of the challenges put be-

fore us.The leadership is the place to

start this dissertation. EAA, as many

of you know, has a leadership team

made up of key staff personnel, in-

cluding the president and many

others. The primary challenge this

team faced in the days leading

up to the event was the weather,and the unprecedented wet condi-

tions of the convention grounds.

It quickly became apparent to me

that this team was, and continually

stayed, focused on the needs of the

membership and all of the poten-

tial attendees of AirVenture. I never

observed any decision-making thatwasn’t focused on what was best for

the members. At every turn, the or-

ganization bit the bullet and made

the right decisions.

This is what really made the event

the success we were all attempt-

sire by the staff to engage and be

a real part of the reactionary force

and see this thing through to the

end. Every one of these individuals

seemed to step up and play a key

role in the execution of the plans

that leadership placed on the table

before them. So, many thanks to

you as well. In my book, you folks

walk on water.

The Vintage Aircraft Association

volunteers are not only amazing,

but also a resilient bunch of dedi-

cated individuals. We again expe-

rienced an unbelievable increase

in the roster of Vintage volunteers

decision to engage themselves and

become a part of the force for good

that dealt with these never-before-

seen circumstances.

In the days immediately prior to

the start of AirVenture 2010, the

soggy, waterlogged grounds limited

us to about 20 percent of our Vin-

tage aircraft parking area. When you

are confronted with such a limita-tion, your normal planning goes out

the window, and you come up with

a new plan, right then, right there!

On the weekend just prior to

the start we found ourselves lin-

ing each side of the Papa Taxiway

(that’s the taxiway that runs par-

allel to the entire VAA flightline)with vintage aircraft. This long line

of aircraft started at the south end

of Papa and extended all the way

north through most of the Home-

built area. By parking them along

the taxiway, we could accommo-

date the early-bird arrivals. Then, as

the grounds improved we could fillthe Vintage camping/showplane

display area. By parking them in

sequence of arrival from south to

north, and getting each pilot’s local

contact information, we could ac-

commodate them on a first-come,

GEOFF ROBISON

PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

STRAIGHT & LEVEL

Challenges

I never

observed any

decision-making

that wasn’t

focused on what

was best for

the members.


3/44

IFC Straight & Level Challenges

by Geoff Robison

2 News 4 EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Vintage Awards

6 The Deatons’ Beautiful Family Bonanza Creating a Grand Champion, one step at a time

by Sparky Barnes Sargent

16 The Resurrection of Waco NC15705 An expert craftsman breathes life into a long-stored antique

by Remo Galeazzi

23 Light Plane Heritage The Ludington Lizette by Jack McRae

26 The Holmes Northrup Airplane An EAA chapter president visits a sport aviation treasure by David Nixon

30 The Vintage Mechanic Assembly, rigging, control surface checks, and inspections by Robert G. Lock

34 The Vintage Instructor Conquer your fears by Steve Krog, CFI

36 Mystery Plane by H.G. Frautschy

39 Classified Ads

A I R P L A N E SEPTEMBER

C O N T E N T S

S T A F FEAA Publisher Tom Poberezny

Director of EAA Publications Mary JonesExecutive Director/Editor H.G. FrautschyProduction/Special Project Kathleen Witman

Photography Jim KoepnickCopy Editor Colleen Walsh

Publication Advertising:Manager/Domestic, Sue Anderson

T l 920 426 6127 E il d @

Vol. 38, No. 9 2010

16

6


4/44

VAA NEWS

Above: Tom Poberezny introduces

new EAA President Rod Hightower on

opening day.

Rod Hightower—EAA Lifetime

357443; a longtime EAA, Vintage

Aircraft Association, and Warbirdsof America member; pilot; aviation

enthusiast; and businessman, was

named EAA’s third president on

July 23, 2010. Hightower is the first

president from outside the Pober-

ezny family in the 57-year history

of EAA. His appointment will take

effect September 7.

“I’m honored to be selected as

the next leader of such a passion-

ate group of aviation enthusiasts as

EAA members, since I’ve long been

a part of the organization for more

than 20 years,” Hightower said af-

job one is for you to get to know

me and for me to get to know

you.” He also said it was a prior-

ity to preserve EAA’s culture and

protect the brand.

Meanwhile, Poberezny will use

his years of experience and the rela-tionships that he has developed to

foster and grow EAA’s business part-

nerships, philanthropy, and the or-

ganization’s endowment.

Growing aviation and EAA

is Highto wer’s main priori ty.

“When you are exposed to avia-

tion early in your life, there is in-

formation to suggest that you’re

more than likely to stay involved

in aviation,” he said. “So I think

that the outreach programs, such

as the Young Eagles, the SportAir

Workshops, the Air Academy—

New EAA President Rod Hightower

spent seven years restoring his BoeingStearman PT-17 biplane.

A pilot and restorerHightower, who said, “I haven’t

been in an airplane I didn’t like,”

holds a commercial certificate, and

multiengine and instrument rat-

ings. He previously owned and flewa Cessna P210 for business—“The

closest thing to a time machine we

know of,” Hightower said.

In the late 1980s he acquired

a basket-case Boeing Stearman

PT-17 biplane, spent seven years

restoring it, and has been flying

the airplane since July 1997—most

recently based out of Creve Coeur

Airport near St. Louis, Missouri.

Hightower expects to relocate the

Stearman to Oshkosh sometime in

the next year.

“The project was a success thanks

New EAA President Rod Hightower


5/44

As Promised: Streamlined eAPISThe U.S. Customs and Border

Protection (CBP) agency followed

up quickly on a promise made by

Homeland Security Secretary Ja-net Napolitano during AirVenture

2010. Effective immediately, pilots

flying into or out of the United

States can access a streamlined,

user-friendly Electronic Advance

Passenger Information System (eA-

PIS) process.

The new eAPIS allows users to

save up to five recently submitted

manifests for a period of 30 days,

and recreational/general-aviation

users can save up to 10 manifests

indefinitely. Users can then use

previous submissions as templates

for creating new manifest s and

flight routes.

This action demonstrates thepositive impact EAA and other as-

sociations have working collabora-

tively with government agencies

like the CBP. In fact, many of the

streamlined procedures were devel-

oped from EAA member comments

made to CBP eAPIS experts in the

Federal Pavilion during the pasttwo AirVentures.

If you plan to make border-

crossing flights over the next few

months, please let EAA know how

the system worked for you, and of-

fer suggestions for making the eAPIS

system work even better. Send your

comments to [email protected] .

AirVenture 2010 by the NumbersDespite torrential rains that saturated the convention grounds,

extraordinary efforts by EAA staff and volunteers allowed AirVen-

ture 2010 to go on and draw an estimated 535,000 people and

more than 10,000 airplanes to Wittman Regional Airport.

Attendance was 7 percent below the blockbuster event in 2009,which was expected. The weather probably contributed to the

lower attendance figure, EAA Chairman Tom Poberezny said.

More AirVenture numbers:

• 2,380 showplanes, including 1,106 homebuilt aircraft, 635

vintage airplanes, 374 warbirds, 115 ultralights, 120 seaplanes,

and 30 rotorcraft.

•777 commercial exhibitors, up from 750 in 2009.

• 2,167 international visitors registered from 66 nations, with

Canada (586 visitors), Australia (350), and Brazil (221) the top

three nations.

• Campers in the aircraft and drive-in area estimated at more

than 36,000.

•979 media representatives from six continents.

What Our

Members Are Restoring


6/44

ANTIQUE AWARDS(THROUGH AUGUST 1945)

Antique Grand Champion—Gold Lindy

Gene Engelskirger, Hinckley, Ohio

1941 Waco UPF-7, NC32032

Antique Reserve Grand Champion—Silver Lindy

Presley Melton, North Little Rock, Arkansas

1943 Howard Aircraft DGA-15P, N9125H

Silver Age (1928-1936) Champion—Bronze Lindy

H. Blazer, Leawood, Kansas

1936 Monocoupe 90A, N15429

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Champion—Bronze Lindy

L.J. Nalbone, Faribault, Minnesota1941 Waco ZPF-7, NC173E

World War II Era (1942-1945) Champion—Bronze Lindy

Kirk Erickson, Warroad, Minnesota

1941 Boeing B75N1, N60955

Transport Category Champion—Bronze Lindy

Pole Pass Airways, Seattle, Washington

1929 Hamilton Metalplane H47, N879H

World War II Military Trainer/Liaison Aircraft Champion—

Bronze Lindy

Larry Boehme, Fort Riley, Kansas

1943 Stinson V77, N9178H

Replica Aircraft Champion Bron e Lind

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Outstanding Closed Cockpit

Monoplane—Small Plaque

Steve Kretsinger, Eugene, Oregon

1937 Piper J-2, N19252

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Outstanding Closed CockpitBiplane—Small Plaque

Ben Redman, Faribault, Minnesota

1940 Waco EGC-8, N2279

Bronze Age (1937-1941) Outstanding Open Cockpit Biplane—

Small Plaque

William McCormick, Faribault, Minnesota

1941 Waco UPF-7, N32133

CLASSIC AWARDS(SEPTEMBER 1945 THROUGH 1955)

Grand Champion—Gold Lindy

Ryan Johnson, Dodgeville, Wisconsin

1948 Piper PA-15, N4469H

Reserve Grand Champion—Silver Lindy

Sean Soare, Loves Park, Illinois

1946 Funk B85C, N81142

Best Custom—Bronze Lindy

George Willford, Waterville, Ohio

1953 Cessna 170B, N3098A

Best Custom Runner-Up—Large Plaque

This list of EAA AirVenture Oshkosh 2010 award winners judged by the VAA volunteer judging corps

highlights the outstanding work done by individual craftsmen and women across the country and

abroad who took the time and made the effort to bring their aircraft to Oshkosh. Our thanks to each

of the more than 635 showplane pilots who flew their aircraft to Wittman Field for their fellow VAA

members and the public to enjoy.

VintageAwa r d s


7/44

Class IV (236—up hp)—Bronze Lindy

Todd Hitchcock, Star, Idaho

1949 Cessna 195, N3898V

Outstanding Aeronca Champ—Small Plaque

Danny Harris, Eddyville, Kentucky 1946 Aeronca 7AC, N450AC

Outstanding Beech—Small Plaque

Larry Leyda, Coffeyville, Kansas

1952 Beech B35, N5175C

Outstanding Cessna 120/140—Small Plaque

Joseph Prato, Livonia, New York

1946 Cessna 140, N76867


Bruce Rhymes, Susanville, California

1954 Cessna 170B, N2865C


Jerry Shull, Carmel Valley, California

1950 Cessna 195, N369JJ

Outstanding Ercoupe—Small Plaque

S.R. Wooten, Conyers, Georgia1946 Ercoupe 415-C, N99984

Outstanding Luscombe—Small Plaque

James M. Pratt III, Hoffman Estates, Illinois

1946 Luscombe 8A, N1318K

Outstanding Piper J-3—Small Plaque

Mark Hopp, Middleton, Wisconsin

1946 Piper J3C-65, N98394

Outstanding Piper Other—Small Plaque

Alan Frazier, Grand Forks, North Dakota

1947 Piper PA-12, N775PA

Outstanding Stinson—Small Plaque

Robert Potter, Sussex, New Jersey

Stinson 108-3, N702C

standing Swift—Small Plaque

Stephen Wilson, Granbury, Texas1948 Temco GC-1B, N3876K

Outstanding Limited Production—Small Plaque

Clu Colvin, Big Cabin, Oklahoma

1947 Consolidated Vultee L-13, N2538B

P ti S ll Pl

CONTEMPORARY AWARDS(1956—1970)

Outstanding Customized—Bronze Lindy Lee Hussey, Martinsville, Virginia1964 Piper Comanche PA-24, N8455P

Class I Single Engine (0—160 hp)—Large Plaque Kevin Weidner, Bunker Hill, Illinois1959 Piper PA-22-160, N9438D

Class II Single Engine (161—230 hp)—Large Plaque Rick Sullivan, El Cajon, California1963 Piper Cherokee, N63BA

Class III Single Engine (231—up hp)—Large PlaqueKenneth Berger, Monroe, Washington1970 Helio H-295, N6471V

The Dean Richardson Memorial Award—Large PlaqueRobert Koshar, Watervliet, Michigan1966 Cessna 172G, N3626L

Outstanding Beech Single Engine Outstanding In Type—Small Plaque Mark Petersen, Poplar Grove, Illinois1964 Beech S35, N8610Q

Outstanding Cessna 170/172/175 Outstanding In Type—Small Plaque Floyd Stallings, Vine Grove, Kentucky 1967 Cessna 172H, N8804Z

Outstanding Cessna 180/182/210 Outstanding In Type—Small Plaque Jerry Glatczak, Schofield, Wisconsin1963 Cessna 182F, N288LT

Outstanding Champion Outstanding In Type—Small Plaque David Momquist, Tulsa, Oklahoma1966 Champion 7GCBC, N9658S

Outstanding Mooney Outstanding In Type—Small Plaque Garnet McClure, White Oak, Texas1962 Mooney M20C, N6255U

Outstanding Piper PA-22 Tri-Pacer Outstanding In Type—Small Plaque Robert Reckert, Ellington, Connecticut

1957 Piper PA-22-150, N7603DOutstanding Piper PA-24 Comanche Outstanding In Type—Small Plaque Vegas Viper, Henderson, Nevada1964 Piper PA-24-250, N8351P

Outstanding Piper PA-28 Cherokee Outstanding In Type—Small Plaque


8/44

The Deatons’

Beautiful Family

Bonanza


9/44

If you were at EAA AirVen-

ture Oshkosh this past sum-

mer and ambled through thevintage field, you may have

noticed a beautifully restored

1954 Bonanza E35 nestled next to a

friendly bivouac of enthusiastic avi-

ators. Owners Jeff and Suzette Dea-

ton kept N3214C’s cowling and door

propped open so that passersby felt

welcome to peer inside the immacu-

late engine room and plush, well-

appointed cabin. After all, N3214C

is a two-time Grand Champion

winner at national fly-ins (see side-

bar for list of awards). The Deaton

family, of Morehead City in coastal

North Carolina, are frequent fliers

in their Bonanza, and Oshkosh is

just one of their destinations.As a youngster in southern Illi-

nois, Jeff loved going over to the lo-

cal airport to watch the airplanes

land. “My dad worked for Ozark Air

Lines, and I was just

fascinated by airplanes,”

he recalls with a smile.

“I started flying with mydad when I was 15, soloed a

Cessna 150 in my 20s, and then

joined the Marine Corps. My first of

many jobs in the Marine Corps was

a plane captain on A-4s and Harriers,

and one of my many responsibilities

was to make sure the airplane was

safe to fly—so that has carried over

into my own flying during and long

after retiring from the Marine Corps.”

Suzette, a read ing specialist

teacher who teaches K-5 reading re-

mediation, is a willing passenger in

the Bonanza. “As for learning how to


10/44

Adopting Charlie

When the Deatons adoptedN3214C in the late 1990s, they

didn’t really think of it as a restora-

tion project. It was a bit bedraggled

appearancewise, but it didn’t seem

to have any visible corrosion or

major structural items that needed

repair. “I went through the log-

books, so I got the general idea that

it’s rough-looking, but there was a

good foundation under there,” re-

calls Jeff. “The guy had flown it 12

hours in the previous six years, and

there was a lot of haggling over the

price—finally he came down, and

plishing much of the work himself.

Throughout those nine years, hecontinued flying the Bonanza, set-

ting aside time primarily during

the winters to tackle those gremlins

one by one. “Usually I’d down the

airplane in late November, until

around April,” shares Jeff. “I would

spend all that time doing my major

projects and then bring it back up

and fly in the spring. And maybe

I’d do one medium-size project in

the summer.”

Along the way, one inciden-

tal item became the source of

N3214C’s nickname. It was a spe-

Twins!

During those nine years, theDeatons welcomed two more into

their family. No, not airplanes, but

twin baby boys who made their

premature arrival on May 30, 2001.

Blake and Shane were born at 24

weeks, and each weighed less than

2 pounds. Since Suzette and the

babies were in a hospital nearly

two hours’ drive away from home,

Charlie quickly fulfilled the role of

commuter plane. “I’d been up at

the hospital in Greenville for three

days, and I’d just gone home and

had five hours of sleep when they

The Bonanza has clean, sleek lines—and completely restored retractable gear.

JIM KOEPNICK


11/44

to introduce them to aviation at

such a tender age. “At that time,

they were having checkups at Duke

Eye Center every six months,” ex-

plains Suzette. They had to have eyeexams under anesthesia, because

when babies are born at 24 weeks,

they have something called reti-

nopathy of prematurity, where the

retina detaches. So we had all those

trips to do, which would have been

three hours away by car. Blake’s ret-

inas are fine now after surgery, but

Shane has had 11 eye operations,

and the retinas are still detached.

So he has to see a retina specialist

in Detroit once a year, and if Jeff is

not able to fly to Detroit, Miracle

Flights for Kids will fly both Shane

and I there.”

In between all of the medical

appointments early on, Jeff con-tinued to work on improving var-

ious aspects of the Bonanza, and

safety was foremost in his mind.

“Now, I’m not only flying my wife

in there, but also my babies,” says

Jeff, “so it becomes even more im-

portant to make sure it’s safe, and

Suzette was real good about sup-porting the work on Charlie.

Competitive SpiritIt just so happened that one af-

ternoon in 2001 there was a fly-in

at Michael J. Smith Airport in Beau-

fort, where N3214C was based. Jeff,

back from a morning flight, was

persuaded to register his airplane

for judging. He did so, rather hesi-

tantly, and went home to do some

yard work. Later that afternoon, he

and Suzette went to the airport and

discovered that their Bonanza had

Society and read the articles of oth-

ers who had completed projects in

order to acquire the knowledge to

there quarterbacking the situation,

or being a part of it and learning as

I’ve gone along.”

Jeff spent numerous hours detailing the engine compartment.

Close-up view of the old “towel bar” antenna and stinger tail mod, which is

designed to give the plane a longer look.

S P A R K Y

B A R N E S

S A R G E N T P H O T O S


12/44

One of the first improvements he

made was the paint scheme. Suzette

wasn’t fond of the original Bonanza

scheme of polished aluminum with

orange trim, so Jeff decided he’d

like to paint it white with blue and

gold trim. Suzette designed the

paint scheme by looking at numer-

ous photos of other airplanes and

then coloring in an outline of a Bo-

bench seat with individually ad-

justable seats, to allow him more

legroom and a comfortable view-

ing distance from the panel while

flying instrument flight rules (IFR).

And he wanted plush, leather up-

holstery in the cabin, along with

shoulder harnesses for safety’s sake.

“I told him I wanted it to be gor-

geous,” says Jeff, smiling, “and that

This is how the landing gear looked right after Jeff “adopted” the Bonanza.

Now that’s a clean nose gear well. A nice and clean wheel well.

J E F F D E A T O N P

H O T O S


13/44

wall to accommodate the new ra-

dios. Jeff puts his instrument rating

to good use with all of the cross-

country flying that he does, so new

avionics were important to him. “Ifly hard IFR, minimum approaches,

and I work it when I fly it,” he ex-

plains. “It is a nice-looking plane,

but it does get flown!”

Other easily visible mods in-

clude the paint scheme, stinger

tail, and V-35 ventilation system

(since N3214C is based in a hot,

humid coastal environment). Met-

Co-Aire Hoerner wingtips have also

been installed, along with Whelen

LED strobes. “In the cockpit, the

PS Engineering 8000B audio panel

powers the certified PS Engineer-

ing PAV80 DVD system that is cus-

tom mounted in the rear headrests,

which is great on all the long tripswe make,” says Jeff. “We also have

a screen that deploys from the

front glove box for the front pas-

senger. Combine that with satellite

weather and XM radio, and Charlie

is very well-equipped to also enter-

tain its flight crew.”

In 2007, Jeff tackled the landinggear. “We took the entire gear sys-

tem out, replaced the struts, stripped

paint, primed, and repainted all of

the gear components and the entire

belly of the airplane,” he says. “In

my line of business with yacht res-

toration, I’ve done a lot of painting

over the years, and I used a HVLP

system to paint this. Another proj-

ect was doing a top overhaul on the

engine, and I literally spent years

doing an extraordinary amount of

detailing work.”

Just one glance in the engine

type club’s technical counselors, he

also paid close attention to several

other folks who were knowledge-

able about vintage aircraft. “H.G.

Frautschy, Steve Bender, and the

late Dean Richardson took the time

of constant medical attention, the

family flies Charlie on a regular

basis up and down the East Coast

visiting family, as well as on vaca-

tion trips to the Bahamas and to

national fly-ins. “We love going

The well-appointed cabin.

“… I wanted to takewhat Beechcraft gave

us and very tastefullycomplement it.”

—Jeff Deaton

S P A R K Y

B A R N E S

S A R

G E N T


14/44you’d kept it original.’”

Jeff enjoys “putting Blake up in

Thanks to Charlie , 8-year-old

Blake is already enamored with fly-

on many other trips that we know

he would enjoy.”


15/44

N3214C EquipmentPS Engineering PMA 8000B audio panel w/cell phone and MP3 interface

Garmin GNS 530W (WAAS certified)

NSD-360 HSI

King KX 155 including second G/SGarmin GTX 330 transponder with traffic

S-TEC 30 autopilot with/alt and GPS

JPI EDM-700 engine monitor with fuel flow

Digital voice recorder and air traffic control playback

N3214C AwardsGrand Champion, Contemporary—VAA Chapter 3, May 2001

Grand Champion—EAA Chapter 1171, October 2001

Best Custom Classic over 165 hp—Sun ’n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida, 2004

Best Custom Classic—Burlington VAA Chapter 3, May 2004

Outstanding Beechcraft—AirVenture Oshkosh 2004

Outstanding Classic—Sun ’n Fun 2005

Best in Show—Burlington VAA Chapter 3, May 2005

Outstanding Custom Class C—AirVenture Oshkosh 2006

Best Custom Classic—Sun ’n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida, 2006

Best Custom Classic Runner-Up—AirVenture Oshkosh 2006

Grand Champion Custom Classic—Sun ’n Fun Fly-In at Lakeland, Florida, 2007

Charles Lindbergh Award Winner Best Custom Classic—AirVenture 2007

Featured in the EAA movie Spirit of Aviation narrated by Harrison Ford—2008

pass this down to Blake one day. No

matter if we get another airplane—

JIM KOEPNICK


16/44

Suzette and Jeff Deaton with their son Blake at AirVenture.

Blake, with his autographed Team

Oracle cap perched atop his head,

shows one of his favorite toys.

used to fly a lot of Young Eagles,

and I’ve probably flown about 500

people in Charlie. We used to have

an airport appreciation day, and I’d

fly seven or eight hours, taking 50

to 60 people flying in a day.”

Encircle the FamilyThe advantages of owning and re-

storing a vintage airplane and using

it as a family traveling machine are

numerous, and the Deatons both of-

fer some suggestions about how to

accomplish that. “I would say, from

my perspective, that you don’t have

to start big. If you can find an air-

plane that has the potential—you’ve

got to be willing to put in the work,

of course—you don’t have to throw

your wallet at it immediately. It is these airplanes were built with ness of the airplane. If you do those

S P A R K Y

B A R N E S

S A R G E N T

P H O T O S

“…I would especially encourage

someone to buy an older

airplane and restore it, because[otherwise] these airplanes are

going to end up abandoned in a

fi eld someplace….”—Suzette Deaton


17/44

Every pilot dreams of having a grass strip of their own. The Scotts Company has the

variety of advanced grass seed you need to construct a superior-performing grass

strip, no matter your location or conditions. Plus, Scotts has a team of experts who

will help you select the right seed and maintain it properly.

THE BEST SOFT FIELDS

ARE SCOTTS FIELDS.

For additional information and seed recommendations, contact Wayne Horman with Scotts

Professional Seed at [email protected]


18/44

The Resurrection of


19/44

Waco NC15705


20/44

It had been such a great part of

his life. He had labored on it for somany years that it was almost sur-

real not to see it resting where it

had always been resting for so long.

For years everyone had known that

Jim Smith was restoring a Waco up

there at the Healdsburg airport. In-

terested people showed up from all

over to view the excellent work-manship and marvel at the monu-

mental task that it was for one man

to tackle such a large and compli-

cated restoration. He thought of

how he was going to miss those

visits, the impromptu lunches, and

even the inevitable frustrations

when things didn’t go right. As he

mused over all of these past experi-

ences, he began thinking of how it

all started so long ago.

Waco YQC-6, NC15705All antique aircraft have histories

that one could write books about, and

this Waco is no exception. NC15705

was the first YQC-6 to come off the

assembly line in 1936, as proved by

the serial number on the drawingsacquired from the Smithsonian ar-

chives. And it was the only one to

have its decorative stripe done in this

particular fashion. Delivered first to

Dan Wallace, Carpinteria, California,

with the list price of $7,295 for the

airplane that year.

In 1942 after going through the

hands of several owners, it was

impressed into military service to

perform coastal patrol duties, carrybombs on an improvised bomb

rack, and search for submarines off

the East Coast. The logbook shows

every entry while it performed

these duties. According to Navy re-

cords, it executed more missions

than any other civil aircraft.

After the war, it returned to civiluse and was eventually owned by

U.S. Air Force Maj. Joseph Rutan.

Rutan then sold the Waco in May

1959 to Robert E. and Anne B. Gar-

dyne, which is where the story ac-

tually begins.

Bob and Anne Gardyne flew the

Waco to all of the early West Coast

fly-ins and to the early Antique

The sub-panel of the instrument panel holds the instru-

ments and the lamps used to illuminate the panel. The

beautiful burl walnut top panel is mounted on top of it

after the instruments were installed.

A set of new-old-stock flare tubes and control panel

were donated to the project by one of the Healdsburg

airport folks. Long since illegal to use, the flares were

not installed, but the tubes are one of the many original

touches added to the restoration by Jim Smith.

J I M

S M I T H

P H O T O S


21/44

Airplane Association (AAA) avia-

tion events, becoming well-known

enough to have been pictured in

many magazines. The logs showedthat throughout the years the Waco

had many of its parts repaired or

replaced, so Bob decided that the

old trooper needed some TLC and

dismantled it in 1962, preparing it

for restoration. Not long afterward,

Anne became ill, requiring constant

care. Bob found that because of hiswife’s illness and the need to care

for his four children, he could not

work full time at his engineering

job. He opted instead to do consult-

ing work, which enabled him to

make his own hours.

In the meantime, the Waco res-

toration had become a low prior-

ity and was set aside. It remained

stored for several years when, tragi-

cally, Gaardyne’s wife passed away

and the burden of raising his family

rested fully on his shoulders. Anne

was not only Bob’s beloved wife, she

ried a wonderful lady, Marie, who

has been his helpmate and loving

companion for more than 20 years.

Jim Smith, Restorer, PilotFor those who have followed

sport aviation events throughout

the years, they may know of Jim

Smith. He has been written about

and mentioned in many aviation-

oriented periodicals. Smith is an

exacting and meticulous craftsmanwho has the innate ability to figure

out and f ix anything mechanical.

After eight and a half years of hard

work, he completed the finest Mar-

quart MA-5 Charger ever built. He

took so many first places and grand

championships at West Coast fly-ins

in 1981-1982 that the other entrants

groaned when they saw him arrive.

He flew it to Oshkosh in 1982, and

the biplane was proclaimed the Cus-

tom Built Grand Champion.

Smith had flown his Charger for

several years when he started to get

to naught, but he looked at ads,

followed some leads to dead ends,

until entirely by accident he heard

through the antiquers’ grapevinethat a certain Waco was for sale

across the bay and seemed to fit his

requirements.

He contacted the owner, Bob

Gardyne, and arrangements were

made to see the Waco in El Cerrito,

where the Waco was stored. Gar-

dyne knew of Smith’s reputation.Smith had rummaged through the

boxes and crates, to Gardyne’s de-

light, and there was a quick meet-

ing of the minds. That was the

beginning of a long and arduous

restoration for Smith, and a long,

heartfelt friendship among Gar-

dyne, Smith, and me.

The Waco’s RestorationThe Waco, at first, seemed to be

a fairly straightforward restoration.

But as more and more fabric was re-

moved, and the actual condition of

A complete new horizontal stabilizer was constructed by

Jim Smith.

The Waco’s intricate structure gives it great lines, but

it can intimidate even the most expert shop. Jim Smith

was able to rely on his years of expert craftsmanship to

methodically get through the restoration process.

J I M S

M I T H

P H O T O S


22/44

when Smith began the reconstruc-

tion of the wings. He had intended

to take each panel, separately, to

his home garage so that he could

work on them at his convenience.The lower wings on the Custom

Wacos are less than half of the area

of the upper wings, so by definition

the YQC-6 is a true sesquiplane.

He felt he would start on one

of the lower panels because they

should prove to be the easiest.

Smith completely dismantled thefirst wing he chose to work on, in-

cluding the rather complex metal

fittings, thinking that when he

uncovered the opposite panel he

would simply use that wing to

copy the assembly. When the first

panel was ready for the hardware,

he brought the other surface home

and removed the fabric exposing

the inner structure. His eyes almost

fell out of their sockets, for what he

saw was a totally different set of fit-

tings, and a similar, but not match-

ing, structure. This development

dard cabin Waco lower panel, short-

ened it, and matched it as well as

they could with the Custom wing.

When Smith placed the wings

face-to-face, they didn’t even matchin planform. No doubt when both

panels were on the airplane it just

simply wasn’t discernable. The air-

foil on most of the ribs didn’t even

match. But for all of those years

that the airplane flew since the re-

pair, no one noticed the difference.

It must have flown quite well. Thisadded to the difficulty of the resto-

ration, but now the panels are alike

in all of their curvaceous splendor.

Early on, Smith applied to the

Smithsonian Institution for copies of

the original Waco YQC-6 plans. He

was informed that years before a re-

quest had been made for the prints,

and the person handling the request

had sent the original plans instead of

copies. The prints were only returned

in part, so Smith was only able to ac-

quire what they had on hand. For-

tunately, the prints that he received

He ordered the wiring as it was

originally made for the Waco, keep-

ing faith with his promise to make

the restoration as original as possi-

ble. He milled all of the woodworkbecause all of it needed replacing.

As most antiquers know, the Waco

Custom has a wood coving over the

longerons that imparts the sensu-

ous curvy look that is so important

to the Waco. When Smith took

his problem to several woodwork-

ing shops and learned what theywanted per foot for the coving, he

went back to the hangar, machined

a tool, and made his own.

Smith also noticed there was

a slight sag in the coving behind

the top wing root. Every time he

walked by he made a remark about

that sag. After a few days of this, it

was inevitable that some kind of

eruption was in the offing. It came

in the form of a big swipe with a

razor blade. All of the fabric was

removed and he was soon hard at

work building a substructure un-

JAMES DUNN


23/44

hardware store shelves, and most

clerks, when asked, don’t even

know what it is.

Smith had just about given up

the search when he decided to try

an old hardware store in a nearby

town. The old-timer that waited

on him said he wasn’t sure about

the tape, but he’d go upstairs and

take a look. When he returned he

was holding a dusty cardboard box

chock-full of rolls of friction tape,

and they appeared to be in fine

shape. Elated, Smith asked howmuch. The fellow thought for a sec-

ond, then just handed him the box,

saying to simply go ahead and take

it because it wouldn’t sell anyway.

Another little anecdote that re-

ally boggles the mind is when Smith

began looking for a set of parachute

flares and canisters that were origi-nally mounted on the Waco. This

was a really tough one because they

were all discarded when they be-

came illegal to use years ago. Smith

received leads that led to all parts

of the world, making phone calls

to England, South Africa, and even

Australia, with negative results.One day, after he resolved to pro-

ceed without the flares, Smith casu-

ally mentioned the problem with

the flares while he chatted with his

neighbor who owned the hangar

across the way. The fellow walked

away and told Smith he would re-

turn in a little while. He did indeed

return, and he carried a large carton

that he handed to Smith. Smith, not

having an inkling of what the box

contained, opened it, and stared in

disbelief. The box contained three

new flare canisters, complete with

tal task because of their size. The fuel

tanks had to be redone, refitted, and

replumbed. The vacuum-operated

speed brakes on the lower surfaces

were remade from scratch, and the

entire operating mechanism was re-

built. The retractable landing lights

became a problem because one of

them had a broken gear, and the

parts, originally built by Grimes,

were no longer available. Luckily, af-

ter a long search, Smith found a gear

shop that could order a stock gear

in the correct diameter with the cor-rect type and number of teeth. But

it was too wide, so Smith machined

it to the correct width, and it now

works to perfection.

In his zeal to keep the craft as

authentic as possible, Smith even

made two new sets of rudder ped-

als to match the original factorydrawings. The old Johnson bar was

retained for authenticity but now

operates the parking brake. He made

a new instrument panel that was

exactly as the original drawings de-

picted, sent the instruments in to be

overhauled, and now each sports the

Waco logo. He felt he would be un-able to do the quality of wood grain-

ing that this restoration required, so

he sent the panel and window trims

to a specialist in Washington, who

turned them into a work of art.

By tearing down the old seat fabric

layer-by-layer, he discovered the orig-

inal color and material that was used

on the original interior. The seats,

side panels, and upper lining are now

in the original two-tone gray mohair,

and the result is rich and tasteful.

When one examines the cabin

area, hoping to find modern radio

and navigating equipment with

which to fly in today’s environment,one would initially be disappointed.

Upon closer examination one would

find that Smith has cleverly hidden

the radios in the upper left wing root,

a neat little door camouflaging their

existence. The antennas needed are

also hidden within the wings, so that

the Waco appears to have just rolledoff the line of a 1936-era factory. The

stabilizer is all wood, and Smith fab-

ricated a completely new unit, us-

ing the original metal fittings. A new

vertical stabilizer was also fabricated,

including the beautiful plywood fair-

ing that blends into the fuselage.

Metal Smithing As one peruses a Custom Cabin

SPECS

The type certifi cate number for the YQC-6 was issuedMarch 2, 1936, and amended to include the ZQC-6and AQC-6. Eighty-eight of the various Jacobs-powered

C-6s were manufactured by the Waco Aircraft Company.The specifi cations and performance data for the WacoYQC-6 is as follows.

Length overall 26 feet 8 inches

Height overall 8 feet 8 inches


24/44

Waco, it becomes apparent that ev-

ery junction, save perhaps a couple,

has a beautifully formed metal fair-

ing. This fact presented Smith with

one of the most challenging aspects

of the perfect restoration. All of the

original fairings were damaged in

one way or another. Some had been

torn, some drilled and redrilled in

an effort to keep them together,

and some bent beyond redemption.

A few, with a lot of work, could pos-

sibly be reused, but most weren’t

even useful as patterns.Smith had done some metal

forming, but nothing this extensive

or exacting. His first efforts were

with the side panels directly to the

rear of the cowl. He soon found, af-

ter hours of fruitless labor, that an

English wheel was a must if he was

to finish the myriad of other fair-ings within the following century.

True to the Smith tradition, he

built his own English wheel, com-

plete with the various sizes of rollers

that he anticipated needing. It looks

better than a piece of production ma-

chinery and would grace anyone’s

workshop. While he was at it, hefashioned a planishing hammer and

other gadgets to hasten the work a

little. It was a tough job to form the

various fairings as they were needed,

welding the many components, and

fitting them neatly and precisely to

the airframe. Anyone examining the

finished fairings as mounted on this

Waco would find it hard to nitpick.

A little DetourAlong the Way

Since Smith was now retired, and

the Waco was shaping up well, he

was not unusual to have two or

more people drop by the hangar

daily, wanting some help in doing

this or that. Smith would patiently

describe a procedure, or follow

them to their hangars, spending

time with each, demonstrating

and advising.

Finishing the WacoThe Waco, in line with its heri-

tage, was finished with several coats

of clear dope, carefully sanded;

many coats of aluminum dope, alsosanded; and many coats of colored

dope, again, finished to perfection.

The metal work was done in enamel.

It was determined that the Waco

came out of the factory originally

painted Insignia blue in its entirety

with a single unique stripe on the

fuselage and wheelpants (unique be-cause it seems that it was the only

one painted in this fashion at the

factory). The stripes and numbers

on the wings and tail were, and are,

cream, with red pin striping.

Three years before completion,

after hearing complaints from other

Waco owners, Smith decided tochange the brakes and wheels from

the original systems. Airplanes in

those days were designed to fly from

big square dirt fields, the pilot al-

ways being able to point the nose

into the wind when landing or tak-

ing off. Today’s narrow paved run-

ways, sometimes crosswind, present

a different set of dynamics, so a

smooth, positive braking action is

a necessity. He therefore opted for

the supplemental type certificated

Redline hydraulic units. They were

installed in 2005 and proved later to

The propeller was sent in to be

overhauled to new condition and

boasts sparkling new Hamilton

Standard decals proudly displayed

on the blades.

Almost DoneBy July 2006, after so many

years the Waco was finally near-

ing completion, needing only the

restoration of the wheelpants and

its attendant fairings to return the

singular beauty to its former glory.

But the restoration came to a haltwhen Smith had to undergo heart

surgery. It was to be a long recuper-

ative struggle, and with the compli-

cations of emphysema, his health

deteriorated to the point where the

completion of his precious Waco

seemed impossible.

Time passed, and his health im-proved so slowly that he felt the

most reasonable alternative was

to sell the project as it sat. A year

passed, and even though his health

didn’t seem to be improving, the

Waco beckoned. He decided that

even though he could devote only

a short time every day to the work,he would drive up to the hangar

and give it a try. He tackled the

wheelpants first, and when after a

great deal of effort they were done,

he started on the inner fairings,

a complicated blending of curves

that really tested his mettle. But he

did it, and after he installed the fi-

nal components, he could only sit

back and marvel at the beautiful

combinations of curves that had

been bestowed on this most ex-

quisite Waco. He had finally con-

quered it!


25/44

Light Plane Heritage

published in EAA Experimenter April 1990

THE LUDINGTON LIZETTEBY JACK MCRAE

In 1926 privately owned sport

airplanes were very rare andusually were from World War

I surplus stock of Jennys and

Standards, which were large air-

planes of limited performance and

expensive to operate.

Company of Philadelphia.

The Ludington Exhibi t ionCompany had been organized in

1922 by C. Townsend Ludington,

a 26-year-old aviation enthusiast,

and Wallace Kellett, the Ameri-

can representative of the French

tional Air Races in 1923 and 1924.

However, they felt the need foran airplane of advanced design with

better cross-country performance

and durability than the Farman, so

the design of the Lizette was started

in late 1923, using a smaller engine

The Sport Farman as flown byLudington Exhibition Company.


26/44

tained. The basic concept was Lud-

ington’s, the design work was done

by Brown and Miller, with practical

suggestions from Robert P. Hewitt,

the company pilot.After the configuration was de-

termined, a wind tunnel model

was made and tested for drag and

stability and control at the New

York University wind tunnel. The

lift/drag ratio of 8.9 was consid-

erably higher than for most air-

planes at that time. A large amountof aluminum alloy was used in

the construction. The fuselage, of

smooth skin monocoque design,

was unusual because most metal

airplanes then used a corrugated

skin to provide stiffness, and little

information existed for smooth-

skin design. An agreement was

made with the Naval Aircraft Fac-tory, with permission of the Secre-

tary of the Navy, to use facilities

for construction and static testing

at no expense to the government.

The fuselage was basically of

The Ludington Exhibition Company

had been organized in 1922 by

C. Townsend Ludington, a 26-year-old

aviation enthusiast, and Wallace

Kellett, the American representative

of the French Farman Company.


27/44

cockpit cutout. Fittings and rein-

forcements took the concentrated

loads. Static tests showed the fu-

selage structure to have strength

above the design load factor.

The wing was of more conven-

tional wood construction with two

box spars and wire drag bracing.The leading edge was covered with

plywood to the top of the front

spar. Aerodynamic twist was built

into the wing by using varying air-

foil sections of carefully chosen

characteristics. The inner portion

airfoil was the U.S.A. No. 1, taper-

ing to a Sloane racing section at

the tip with a curved trailing edgeshape for the outer half of the

panel. The ailerons were designed

to reduce adverse yaw effects.

The landing gear was of the

split-axle type using rubber in

angle was flatter.

The Lizette was first flown in

1926 and for several years follow-

ing and was found to be pleas-

ant and easy to fly. Because of

its lower drag and more efficient

wing design, the Lizette took off

in about the same distance as theSport Farman. Maneuverability at

the approach speed was consider-

ably better, and the side-by-side

seating was a desirable feature.

Ludington had hoped to use

a 50-hp engine eventually, but

since this engine never became

available, the possibility was con-

sidered of installing two WrightMorehouse engines in the nose

“rather like the head of a ham-

merhead shark.” This scheme was

never completed as it appeared

to introduce too many complica-

tion business. Ludington was co-

founder of Jacobs Aircraft Engine

Company in 1929. In 1930 Luding-

ton and his brother Nicholas started

the Ludington Air Lines, which pro-

vided the first scheduled service be-

tween New York, Philadelphia, and

Washington, D.C., with flights ev-ery hour on the hour. By 1933 Lud-

ington Air Lines was merged with

Eastern Air Transport, which later

became Eastern Air Lines. Luding-

ton was one of the original found-

ers of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots

Association (AOPA) from which he

retired in 1959.

Wallace Kellett, co-founder ofthe Ludington Exhibition Com-

pany, organized the Kellett Auto-

giro Corporation in 1929, which

built Autogiros in the 1930s and

helicopters in the 1940s. In 1945

The Ludington Lizette was powered by a 35-hp Anzani engine.


28/44

I am a dyed-in-the-wool air-

plane nut. I have read and reread

my dad’s 50-year-old issues of Sport

ducing myself to everyone on the

roster, which naturally led to air-

plane and project talk.

building engine?”

“Yes,” he said matter-of-factly.

He proceeded to tell me the story

The Holmes Northrup AirplaneAn EAA chapter president visits a sport aviation treasure

BY DAVID NIXONEAA 0398688, VAA 720260

Don (left) and Dale Holmes and their heavily modified Northrup glider, the Holmes Northrup.

COURTESY OREGON AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY


29/44

We made a rrangements for

me to visit this important part of

sport aviation and Oregon’s avia-

tion history. Gerald filled me in on

the airplane’s history. The airplane

was built from plans as a primary,

single-seat Northrup Glider. It was

built in a shed on their farm in Mid-dleton, Oregon. It was launched by

a crew pulling a bungee cord, then

by auto tow.

The Holmes brothers experi-

mented with design and modifica-

tions, usually after a hard landing.

They modified it over time to have

an enclosed fuselage, they added 6feet to the wingspan, experimented

with three different tail designs,

added landing gear, and eventually

mounted a B-87, 30-hp Long Har-

lequin engine purchased from Les

Long of Cornelius, Oregon. Don

and Dale built their own propellers

to a high finish, beginning with a

double-bit ax to rough it out andfinishing it with a draw knife and

planers. They added copper lead-

ing edges and cloth reinforcements

to the blade tips as well. They ma-

chined a Model T rear wheel hub

in the mid-1930s, it was based at

Bernard’s Airport. Gerald told me

some of their flying stories. The

most amazing one was when one

of the brothers got caught on top

of the Willamette Valley clouds and

ended high up near the slopes of

Mt. Hood. There were no bad crack-ups or accidents.

I t was f lown regularly for

an eight-year period—quite an

achievement for two men who

never held pilot certificates! It was

dismantled for safety reasons in

1937. When the airplane was dis-

mantled, the wing spars became

part of their new boat project, the

flying and landing wires became

clothesline, and the landing gearwent on their homebuilt wheelbar-

row. The engine, prop, and miscel-

laneous pieces were put in storage.

The certificate of registration and identification

mark authorization for the Holmes.

Don and Dale built theirown propellers to a high

finish, beginning with adouble-bit ax to rough it outand finishing it with a draw

knife and planers.

D A V I D

N I X O N C O U R T E S Y

G E

R A L D H O L M E S


30/44

Gerald learned of the family’s’

aviation history while growing uplistening to the stories and meeting

other pioneers of our modern EAA

movement like Les Long, George

Bogardus, and Myron Buswell. He

eventually collected as many of the

chometer was homemade, it had a

duel magneto switch modified for asingle magneto, and the throttle is

a push/pull cable similar to a choke

cable coming out from the panel. It

did not have an airspeed indicator,

but a decal representing one! Ger-

conversions of today.

Not ones to stop experiment-

ing, the Holmes brothers also

modified their engine when thecrank broke. They turned their

own replacement crankshaft out of

a billet steel blank purchased from

Les Long. Don and Dale modified

the crank to accommodate better

bearings, as well as modifying the

crankcase as Les Long had done.

The engine bears the scars of con-struction, use, and repair.

With the assistance of his Un-

cle Dale, Gerald has since recon-

structed the ribs and fuselage. He

plans to rebuild the airplane to

nonflying status as a tribute to Don

and Dale Holmes.

It was a great experience to see

and learn about the Holmes familyand their historic Oregon home-

built aircraft. I am proud to think

of the part Oregon played in the

early movement of, and continues

to play in, EAA. After this experi-

One of the remaining pieces of the Holmes Northrup is the instrument

panel. The oil pressure and tachometer on the top are not real; they’re

just decals! The real tachometer features a hand-drawn face, and on the

opposite side of the panel is an oil pressure gauge.

The Long B-87 engine was created

by pioneering lightplane builder

Les Long.

Another view of the Holmes.

COURTESY OREGON AVIATION HISTORICAL SOCIETY

D A V I D

N I X O N

C O U R T E S Y

G E R A L D

H O L M E S


31/44

Pearl is a family friendly filmthat tells the true story of Pearl

Carter Scott, a fearless young girl


32/44

In this issue we will discuss rigging of control sur-

faces in detail, checking control surfaces for condi-

tion and operation, and tips on inspecting control

systems. So let’s begin.

Aircraft control systems are actuated by either cableor push-pull tubes and are connected to the rudder

pedals and stick or wheel mechanism in the pilot’s

cockpit. Most rudder systems are cable-driven, while

aileron and elevator systems can be either cable or

push-pull tube control. The rigging of both cable and

push-pull systems is similar. Once a system is properly

rigged, it should provide years of trouble-free service;

the only problems we are likely to encounter are wearand degradation of cables due to corrosion or friction

on a pulley or fairlead.

Aircraft control surface deflection is measured from

the streamline or neutral position, and travel is given

in degrees or inches of travel. The use of an inclinom-

eter can be used to check aileron and elevator deflec-

tion UP or DOWN from the neutral point. A plumb

bob and chalk can be used to check rudder deflection

LEFT and RIGHT of the neu-tral point.

A digital incl inometer

works best for measuring

angular deflection of flight

controls; these units can be

the aircraft’s attitude. When checking the rudder it will

be necessary to level the aircraft laterally, which can be

accomplished with the ship sitting in the three-point

attitude. Just place a spirit level across the longerons

and adjust the landing gear (sometimes by letting airout of one tire) until the bubble is centered.

CHECKING THE RUDDER TRAVEL:The rudder should move a prescribed number of de-

grees or inches on either side of neutral, and positive

stops should limit travel so the surface will not contact

the elevator. Some stops are adjustable, and some are

not. The easiest way to check rudder travel is to levelthe aircraft laterally (wingtip to wingtip); there is no

need to level the ship longitudinally. Tape a plumb bob

to the center of the rudder trailing edge and allow the

point of the plumb bob to drop just above the hangar

floor. Mark that point with a piece of chalk. Have an-

other person move the rudder pedal to one extreme,

and mark that location on the floor. Then do the same

to the other extreme. Measure the travel with a pro-

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

Assembly, rigging, control surface

checks, and inspections

THE VintageMechanic


33/44

tractor if given in degrees, with

a ruler if given in inches. The

travel should not exceed the fac-

tory specifications. There are oc-

casions when the right travel is

slightly more than the left travel

for proper spin recovery. If the

factory says do it that way, then

that’s the way it should be done.

Note that if the vertical fin is

offset to compensate for engine

torque effect, the rudder should

still be streamlined with the fin

and not the longitudinal axisof the aircraft. Figure 2 shows

checking rudder travel.

CHECKING AILERON TRAVEL: Most ailerons are rigged

with a small amount of droop, so they will streamline in

flight. The amount of droop depends on the amount of

looseness designed in to the system, but up to about 1/4

inch is normal. To check aileron travel, it will be nec-essary to remove the droop from the ailerons. Do this

by using four pieces of softwood that measure around

1/2 inch thick by 4 inches wide, long enough to bridge

the gap between the aileron and wing plus a couple of

inches on each side. Glue a soft padding to one side of

each piece of wood, and then streamline the ailerons

by clamping the wood blocks across the trailing edge

of the aileron and wing. Set the inclinometer to zero,

remove the wood blocks from both sides and check

UP and DOWN extremes. Keep in mind that most old

airplanes may have “aileron differential,” which means

the UP travel is more than the DOWN travel. Both aile-

rons should have the same travel within 1 degree. There

should be positive stops in the aileron system, and if

they are adjustable, small compensations can be made.

Also remember that cable tension should be checked

with the surface in the neutral position, so while theailerons are clamped in neutral, this would be a good

time to check tension. If the tension is loose, increase

by tightening ALL turnbuckles in the system equally.

That way the travel will not change, but the tension will

increase. Usually about half a turn of each turnbuckle is

the two pieces at the elevator

trailing edge; then insert small

wood wedges to bring the trail-

ing edge of the elevator to center

between parallel wood stringers.

That is the neutral position. Fig-

ure 3 shows the process that can

be used for rudder and elevators.

Locate the centerline by using

padded wood to block the rud-

der half the distance between

the straightedges.

There normally is more UP

travel than DOWN travel be-cause the ship is already nose-

heavy. In any case the travel

is always measured from the

neutral point of the elevators. Control cable tension

should always be checked with the elevators clamped

in the neutral position. Otherwise one cable will al-

ways have more tension than the other cable depend-

ing on whether the control stick is forward or aft.

CHECKING ELEVATOR TRIM TAB TRAVEL:

Trim tabs always move opposite the elevator travel,

and care must be exercised upon initial rigging to

make sure they move in the correct direction. When

the trailing edge of the tab moves UP, the elevator

Remove the control

stick lock and continueinspecting cables,

pulleys, rod ends,

and bearings;

if it moves, look at it!


34/44

moves DOWN and the nose moves DOWN. When

the trailing edge of the tab moves DOWN, the eleva-

tor moves UP and the nose moves UP. With elevatortrim tabs it is common for the DOWN travel to be

more than the UP travel. For instance, the Stearman

tab travel is 15 degrees UP and 15 degrees DOWN.

The Aeronca 7AC is 20 degrees UP and 34.5 degrees

DOWN. Cable tension should again be checked with

the tab set in the neutral position.

CHECKING ADJUSTABLE INCIDENCEHORIZONTAL STABILIZER:Some aircraft, like the Travel Air, Command-Aire,

Waco UPF-7, New Standard D-25, and others have

variable incidence horizontal stabilizers that provide

for longitudinal trim of the aircraft. Here it is impor-

tant to know the nose DOWN and nose UP angle of

incidence of the stabilizer that, in some cases, may

be difficult to locate. If the horizontal stabilizer has

a travel of -7 degrees to +2 degrees, then one wouldlevel the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. Zero degrees

would be parallel to the axis, and -7 degrees would

have the leading edge of the top surface 7 degrees

below the horizontal plane, and +2 degrees above the

horizontal plane. The -7 degrees would represent full

a fixed point, perhaps the upper lon-

gerons, to determine where exact

center is located. Place the control

stick at that point and clamp (or use

a bungee cord) it in place. Check the

position of the ailerons; they should

droop slightly, the same amount on

each wing trailing edge. With the

stick fixed, move the aileron trailing

edges UP and DOWN to check for looseness or slop

in the system. There will always be some but not an

excessive amount. Always remember that cable ten-

sion should be checked with the surface clamped in

the neutral position. On older aircraft, cable tensionis light, perhaps 15 to 25 pounds. If tension is too

loose, control movement is sloppy; if tension is too

much, control surface movement is stiff and heavy.

Remove the control stick lock and continue in-

specting cables, pulleys, rod ends, and bearings; if it

moves, look at it! Also remember that cables normally

fray where they lay on a pulley or fairlead. When

inspecting the New Standard D-25s, I loosen aileroncables every 100 hours, pull the cables away from fair-

leads, and run a rag along the cable to detect any fray-

ing. And believe me, I’ve found some frayed cables!

Do not be lulled to sleep by just checking the cables

between pulleys and fairleads. You won’t find any

damage there except perhaps corrosion. The damage

could be hidden by the pulley or fairlead.

Move the controls to see if they touch the positive

stops and that all pulleys rotate as cables move. This

job usually takes two people—one to move the sur-

face and one to inspect the cables and pulleys.

Hold each control surface at the trailing edge and

pull fore and aft, looking for any looseness in the at-

tach fittings. If there is looseness, find out why and

fix it. All bolts that attach control surfaces to pri-

mary structure should be fastened with castle nuts

and safetied with cotter pins. Locknuts should notbe used (unless specified by the manufacturer), be-

cause the bolt is subject to rotation. Check the fabric

covering for condition. There should be no cracks in

the finish or filler coats that expose fabric weave to

sunlight. If there are, fix them.

Checking rudder travel.

Centering the rudder or elevator during riggingchecks.


35/44

Pearl is a family friendly filmthat tells the true story of Pearl

Carter Scott, a fearless young girl


36/44

A ll of us who fly, or once flew, regularly have

dealt with fear. Fear of the unknown when

first learning to fly, fear of the weather clos-

ing in around us as we tried to stretch a

flight to destination, or fear of landing at

the destination because of wind and weather.Fear is defined as the feeling one has when danger

or trouble is near, or a feeling of

being uneasy.

Most of the flight experiences

that create a bit of fear are learn-

ing experiences and teach each of

us a good lesson. How many times

during your flying career have you

quietly said to yourself, “I’ll never

do that again!”? You learned from

that experience.

I had an experience like that

on my second flight lesson; it’s an

experience that occurred 40 years

ago but is still vividly imprinted

on my mind to this day. With no

ground instruction prior to thelesson, or flight demonstration

by the instructor once in the air,

my instructor asked me to per-

form a power-off stall. I applied

carburetor heat and reduced power as directed, and

ply opposite aileron to lift the down wing to a level atti-

tude. I had the yoke turned hard to the right, all the

way to the control stop. The airplane was now not

only pointed downward but also turning sharply to

the left, and the world below was spinning rapidly,

reaching up to smack my little Cherokee 140. I wassure that I was going to meet my maker in the next

few seconds.

Finally, after a four-turn spin,

my instructor took the controls,

applied the correct input, and

soon resumed straight and level

flight. I was panic-stricken. This

was only my second lesson and

the fourth time I had even been

flying in an airplane in my life.

Recognizing my mental state, the

instructor finally did the correct

thing and flew the airplane back

to the airport. Not once during

the return flight, nor after we were

on the ground, did he explain to

me what had happened. He justmarked my flight log with “Un-

satisfactory” for performing stalls.

That evening, still shaken by

what had happened, I decided

that flying was obviously not for me. I’d be better

BY Steve Krog, CFI

Conquer your fears

THE Vintage

Instructor

Most of the flight

experiences that create

a bit of fear are

learning experiences

and teach each of us

a good lesson.


37/44

I read all about spins in different flight manuals

and convinced myself that tomorrow I’d try doing

a spin. The next day that knot in my stomach in-

stantly grew to boulder size, and I talked myself out

of doing a spin. Tomorrow will be a better day for

doing a spin or two, right?

I finally sought out a friend who was comfortable

with spinning an airplane and asked if I could ride

along. He showed me how to do a spin, and we did

about a half dozen spin entries and recoveries. I was

still quite uncomfortable, but at least I now knew a

little more about them. Back in my own plane, I’d

climb to a safe altitude, preparing to try a spin, but

every time I’d set up to do one, my stomach knotwould again grow to boulder size.

Finally, I decided to meet this fear head-on and

contacted a flight instructor who was familiar with

teaching spins, and I bought an hour of dual in-

struction. We did one- and two-turn spins for the

entire hour. Then I rented his airplane and did an

hour of solo spins! My stomach-demon finally met

his match and was gone. Spins became nothingmore than another maneuver, much like power-off

and power-on stalls. This instructor had taken the

time to explain every control movement to me, and

he talked me through the first four or five spins. It

was a simple cure to a condition I acquired on my

second flight lesson; something I’d allowed to fester

for several years.

I recently had the opportunity to speak at a flight

safety seminar about transitioning from tricycle to

conventional (or tailwheel) aircraft. At the conclu-

sion of the talk, I asked a simple question of the ap-

proximate 150 people attending the seminar: “How

many of you have encountered a situation while

flying that continues to gnaw at the pit of your

stomach long after the flight was concluded?”

Initially no one raised a hand. Pilots are all ma-

cho types, right? But slowly hands began to rise un-til nearly half of the attendees were showing hands.

Then I asked, “How many of you have sought the

counsel of another pilot or instructor to talk about

and deal with that fear-causing experience?” All the

hands came down.

When I decided to pursue being a certificated

flight instructor, I made a vow to myself that I con-

tinue to uphold on every dual flight to this day.

That vow is to never scare a student pilot. Nor

do I try to scare a seasoned pilot when giving them

a flight review.

A little fear or anxiety, if properly channeled,

can be a good thing. Fear can enhance a pilot’s

sight, sound, and motor skills. I would much rather

work with a student who has some apprehension

than one who is fearless. Overcoming the anxiety

of doing a stall, for example, can easily be con-

quered, provided it is thoroughly explained and

followed by a step-by-step demonstration, thenpracticed over and over. Apprehension is defeated,

and the student has acquired an increased level of

skill and understanding.

Because of my earlier fear of spins, I teach spins

to every student with whom I fly. Taught as just an-

other maneuver, students young and old begin to

look at spins as something other than a flight con-

dition causing stomach-knot fear. By the time thestall/spin segment of flight training is concluded,

students will ask if they can do a spin or two when I

send them out for solo practice. That request always

brings a smile to my face.

AERO CLASSIC“COLLECTOR SERIES”

Vintage Tires New USA Production

Show off your pride and joy with afresh set of Vintage Rubber. Thesenewly minted tires are FAA-TSO’dand speed rated to 120 MPH. Some

things are better left the way theywere, and in the 40’s and 50’s, these tires were perfectly intune to the exciting times in aviation.

Not only do these tires set your vintage plane apart fromthe rest, but also look exceptional on all General Aviationaircraft. Deep 8/32nd tread depth offers above averagetread life and UV treated rubber resists aging.


38/44

Send your answer to EAA,

Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086,

Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your

answer needs to be in no later

than October 15 for inclusion

in the December 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 the

body of your note and put“(Month) Mystery Plane” in the

subject line.

by H.G. FRAUTSCHY

MYSTERY PLANE

This month’s Mystery Plane comes from a small collection ofphotos sent to us by Duffy Thompson of Lakeland, Florida.

It’s a foreign design, but the photo was taken on the eastern

seaboard of the United States.


39/44

it is possible that the Regent Aircraft

assets may have all been lost to credi-tors in McAllen. The prototype Regent

wound up in the possession of an Il-

linois crop duster named Carroll who

lost it in a fire after a forced landing in

New Mexico circa 1960. An unfinished

Regent was last seen in Minnesota but

has disappeared since the death of the

owner, “Navion Mike” Nalick.

Roger Baker of Carlsbad, Cali-

fornia, sent us this from a website

he ran across, probably at www.

ProbertEncyclopaedia.com:

The Regent Rocket was an Ameri-

can five-seater cabin monoplane of

the 1950s built in two models: the

Regent Rocket 260 powered by a 260-

hp Lycoming GSO-435-C2 six-cylinderhorizontally opposed air-cooled engine

providing a top speed of 320 kmh, and

the Regent Rocket 400 powered by a

400-hp Lycoming GO-580-D eight-

cylinder horizontally opposed air-


40/44

itive attitude of the membership

who brought their aircraft to Air-

Venture. This was a really amazing

reaction to watch develop. And to

think that a huge number of these

folks knew of the challenges be-

fore they launched for Oshkosh,

and they still made the decision tocome in spite of these challenges.

They understood the challenges

and rolled with the revised plan, and

nearly everyone did it with a posi-

tive spirit and a smile on their face.

The attitude of all of our volunteers

was particularly heartwarming to

me. These folks have impressed mefor many years now, but this event

saw their mettle tested to the max-

imum, and they met all the chal-

lenges head on and accomplished

what seemed impossible a few days

before, when ankle-deep water was

literally running at speed down a

few of the paved areas.

I remember sharing with the

leadership of the Vintage Parking

& Flightline Safety group that had

I gazed into a crystal ball two weeks

prior to this event and saw what was

headed toward us, I would have had

to seriously question the division’s

ability to prevail over all of these ob-

stacles. I can now easily say that Iwill never again question their abil-

ity to prevail over such ominous cir-

cumstances. You folks are nothing

short of amazing to me.

Job well done!

STRAIGHT

& LEVELcontinued from IFCChris Galloway and Jim Rollison in-

trigued. If Galloway decided to pur-

chase the Waco after inspecting the

sum total of all of his years of work,

it seemed to Smith that it would be a

sale brokered in heaven. Galloway is

one of those people that have a com-

plete and total appreciation of the

wonderful aircraft of the 1930s. Rol-

lison, who was going to help Gallo-way detail the Waco and check him

out in it, seemed the perfect way for

the airplane to start a new life.

Rollison, airline pilot, lover of

antique aircraft, and owner of sev-

eral rare antiques, including the

only 450-hp Laird Speedwing and

a Ryan STM, is known for havingmore energy than any three people,

the ability to fix anything aeronau-

tical, and fly anything that has the

slightest semblance of wings.

When they both examined the

Waco, Galloway became the new

owner. Rollison spent several days

going over the systems, making ad-

justments, and finally proclaimed

the Waco was ready to fly to its new

home, joining the other aircraft

in Galloway’s stable at the Yolo

County airport.

As Smith closed up the hangar

doors that day after Rollison flew

the Waco to its new nest, it wasn’t

with a sense of loss. Rather, it made

him feel proud that he was the in-

strument that had given this great

aircraft a new life, and he was happy

and content with the knowledge

that the new owner would cherish

it until another generation would

come along to venerate this uniquebeauty of the 1930s.

When Rollison flew the Waco to its

home field in Yolo County, he later

reported that shortly after takeoff,

the cylinder head temperature and

oil pressure moved up to the redline.

Soon after, however, both instruments

slowly moved back into the green,and the flight to the Waco’s home

field was uneventful and all systems

worked perfectly. Rollison was de-

lighted to find that the controls were

smooth, quite sensitive for a large

cabin airplane, and that the craft lit-

erally flung itself into the air after a

short run of perhaps a couple of hun-

dred feet, with its initial light load.

The Waco is starting a brand new

life, and will bring much pleasure to

Galloway and to the myriad specta-

tors who will be able to savor its clas-

sic beauty wherever it is flown.

The Resurrection of Waco NC15705continued from page 22


41/44

MISCELLANEOUS

Flying wires available. 1994 pricing. Visit www.flyingwires.com or call 800-517-9278.

AIRPLANE T-SHIRT S 150 different airplanesavailable. WE PROBABLY HAVE YOUR AIRPLANE!www.airplanetshirts.com or call 1-800-645-7739. We also do Custom T-shirts and Caps forClubs.

www.aerolist.org, Aviations’ Leading Marketplace. Are you tired of hauling to EAA every year? Storage

units available for rent as low as $50/monthless than 1 mile from EAA grounds. Call Todd @(920)850-0502.

Looking for Stinson L-5, Lycoming O-435, or otheraircraft parts? Check www.StinsonL-5Stuff.com

REAL ESTATENC GSO-Int Area Airstrip.

T-hangars, land andlots. Attn: Fed-Ex pilots call cell: 336-707-8076.Possible partnership and owner financing. www. steelefield.com

SERVICES

VINTAGE TRADERSometh ing to buy , se l l , o r t rade?

Classified Word Ads: $5.50 per 10 words, 180 words maximum,with boldface lead-in on first line.

Classified Display Ads: One column wide (2.167 inches) by 1,

2, or 3 inches high at $20 per inch. Black and white only, and no

frequency discounts.

Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of second month prior to

desired issue date (i.e., Januar y 10 is the closing date for the

Vintage Airplane - Sep 2010

Documents