vintage airplane - apr 1995

8/12/2019 Vintage Airplane - Apr 1995

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2/36

EDITORIAL STAFF

Publisher

Tom Poberezny

April 1995 Vol. 23,

No.4

CONTENTS

1

Straight

&

Level/

Es

pi

e "Butch" Joyce

2

AlC News/

Compiled by H.G. Frautschy

4

Ae

romail

5

Vintage Literature/Dennis Parks

9

Type Club NoteslNorm Petersen

PageS

11

Fabric Re

ju

venationlDip Davis

12

Details, Details .

Frank Sperandeo Ill 's Pip er

PA-20/22 Pacer/H.G. Frautschy

16

Frank Warren's

Thompson Trophy Pa intings

18 Gary Gran

fo

r's Cessna 172/

Norm Petersen

21 Time Bomb - That Old

Compressor Could be

Dea

dly/

Page 12

Cy Galley and H .G. Frautschy

23 Members Projects/Norm Petersen

25

Pass it to BucklE.E. "Buck" Hilbert

27

Mystery Airplane/George Hardie

28 We

lc

ome New Members

3

Calendar

31 Vintage Tr

ader

Page 18

FRONT COVER . The 1960 Cessna 172

of

Gary

Granfors and

his

partners

,

Gene Leclerc,

Rick

Worringer

and Bill

Worrlnger, was

selec ted as

the

Co n temporary Reserve Grand Champion

of

the EAA An t

ique/C

lassic Division

at EM OSHKOSH '95 . EAA

photo by

Jim

Koepnick,

sho t

with

a Canon EOS-l

equipped with an 80 -200mm /f2.8 lens . 1

/2

50 sec. a t f 10.0

on Kodak

Ektachrome

Lumiere 100 film . Cessna

210 photo plane

flown

by Bruce

Moore.

Vice-President

Market ing

&

Communicat ions

Dick Matt

Editar-in -Chief

Jock Cox

Editor

Henry

G. Frautschy

Managing Editor

Golda Cox

Art

Director

Mike Drucks

Assistant Art Director

Sora Hansen

Computer Graphic

Specialis

ts

Olivia

L. Phillip Jennifer Larsen

Advertising

Mary

Jones

Associate Editor

Norm Petersen

Feature

Writers

George Hardie

, Jr.

Dennis Parks

Staff Photographers

Jim

Koepnick Mike Steineke

Corl Schuppel

Donna

Bushman

Editorial Assistant

Isabelle

Wiske

EAA

ANTIQUE

/CLASSIC DIVISION .

INC

.

OFFICERS

President

Vice -President

Espie 'Butch '

Joyce

Arthur Morf]an

P.O. Box

1001

W211

N 11863 Hilltop Dr.

Modison ,

NC

27025

Germantown,

WI 53022

910/573-3843

414/628-2724

Secretory

Treasurer

Steve Nesse

E.E.

'Buck' Hilbert

2009 Highland Ave.

P.O. Box 424

Albert

Leo, MN

fHJJ7

Union,

IL

60180

507/373-1674

815/923-4591

DIRECTORS

John Berendit

Robert C. 'Bob'

Bra

uer

7645

Echo

Point Rd.

9345 S. Hoyne

Connon

Falls,

MN

55009

2D

507/263-2414

h l ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Gene

Chose

John S. Cope l

and

2159 Carlton

Rd.

28-3 Williamsbur8 Ct.

Oshkosh, WI 54904

Shrewsbury, MA

1545

414/231-5002

508/842-7867

Phil

Coulson

George Daubner

28415 Springbrook Dr.

2448 Lough Lone

Lawton, MI 49065

Hartford, WI 53027

616/624-5490

414/673-5885

Charies

Horris

Stan Gomoll

7215 East 46th St.

1042 90th Lone, NE

Tulsa, OK 74145

Minneapolis, MN

55434

918/622-8400

612/784-1172

Dole

A. Gustafson

Jeannie Hill

7724 Shady

Hill

Dr.

P.O. Box 328

Indianapolis, IN 46278

HaNard, IL 60033

317/293-4430

815/943-7205

Robert

i k t e i

Robert D. 'Bob' Lumley

1708

Boy

Oaks r.

1265

South 124th

St.

Albert Lea, MN fHJJ7

Brookfield, WI

53OD5

507/373-2922

414/7B2-2633


3/36

STRAIGHT LEVEL

by Espie Butch Joyce

The 1995 Sun 'n Fun Fly-In in Lake

land,

Florida

will most likely be in full

swing

when

this issue of VINTAGE

AIRPLANE reaches your mailbox. f

you've signed up for the Division dur

ing Sun 'n Fun, you may have recieved

this issue at A/C Headquarters. Wel

come aboard

As

the

kickoff fly-in of

the

season,

people come to rekindle their aviation

soul,

not to mention bask

in

the warm

sun and good weather. I'm looking for

ward to this early spring gathering and

I hope to see you there

I was

pleased to have

EAA

Chap

ter 1083, located at Salisbury, North

Carolina

(Rowan County),

ask that I

serve as the speaker

at

their

Chapter

program . Jack

Neubacher,

a

member

of

the Editorial

Advisory Board of

Southern Aviator

magazine

is

the

spark plug of this group, but he cannot

do

this

deed

alone. t

takes

all of

the

other members of the

chapter to help

keep it going. Joe Wilborn s the

per

son who invited me to address the

A gen tleman at the rear

of

the group

held up his hand and said, " I

know

an

other place EAA s doing a lot of good

and s not getting credit for this deed.

Somewhat

puzzled, I as ked him to ex

plain his statement.

He explained, Right here in Rowan

County." OK, you have my ear. "Well,

if it was

not

for

the

EAA, all of

these

people wouldn't be here tonight.

There

was

a

lot

of

flying

going on

here, but

this EAA Chapter s

the

on ly thing that

has brought us

together.

Now we

are

doing things together. It's good. Thank

Paul and Tom for me. Well,

I will,

and now that you have said so, I'm go

ing to thank them myself also.

We took a break and I fielded a

number of

questions about

EAA

and

A/e. After

leaving

the

meeting, while

driving back home,

I

started thinking

(Which has

caused

me trouble from

time to time) that when you work with

the staff

at

Oshkosh like I do, you have

a

tendency

to forget what it's

like

on

the

other end. At a number of Chapter

with

ESPN to

produce a 12

part

avia

tion series for ESPN. Dick writes, I'm

very excited about the series because it

has the potential to greatly impact

our

membership. As you know ,

commer

cial time

on the

series would be highly

effective for many products. f you

know of a company,

group

or individ

ual who might be interested in becom

ing a sponsor, please forward the name

of

a

contact person and phone

num

ber. f

you

know of a company

that

you think could benefit from this type

of

exposure,

drop

Dick Matt at EAA

Headquarters

in Oshkosh a note so this

project can move forward.

I

have

my Baron

down

for annual

again. I have always tried to do this an

nual in March each year, but every year

it seems

that

I get rushed

to

get every

thing back together

before

Lakeland.

This year I plan on having it signed off

in April. Besides all of that, it's got my

Clip-wing

Cub blocked

in

the hangar

and

wouldn't

you know it, we've gotten

pretty weather early this year


4/36

compiled by

H G

.

ra

utschy

CI W I

M ND TORY

EMERGENCY

LYCOMING

D

As this issue of Vintage Airplane was going to press, we were advised that an

emergency Airworthiness Directive applicable to Lycoming engines was to be is

sued. The AD has been issued

via

Priority Mail to inspect for substandard connect

ing

rod bolts shipped by Superior Air Parts, Inc. between February 15 1994 and De

cember 20 , 1994.

f

you have overhauled your Lycoming -360, -540, -541 or -720

series engine since February 15 1994, you should immediately obtain a copy of AD

95-07-01

to determine if your engine is affected

by

this AD. The emergency AD im

mediately grounds applicable aircraft until the AD is complied with. The AD does

not apply to aircraft engines overhauled

by

Lycoming.

The suspect rod bolts have failed in a random pattern, and are the result of the

parts having been manufactured

by an

outside source from substandard materials.

Superior Air Parts issued Service Bulletin

No.

95-002, dated March

3 1995

detailing

inspection and identification of the suspect rod bolts. Copies may be obtained by

contacting Superior at 800/487-4884, or by writing: Superior Air Parts, Inc., 14280

Gillis Rd., Dallas, TX 75244-3792.

For more information on this AD from the FAA, contact Richard Karanian,

Aerospace Engineer, Special Certification Office,

FAA,

Rotorcraft Directorate,

2601

Meacham

Blvd.,

Fort Worth

,

TX

76137-4298,

phone

817/222-5195 , fax:

817/222-5959. or Locke Easton, Aerospace Engineer, Engine and Propeller Stan

dards Staff, FAA, Engine and Propeller Directorate, 12 New England Executive

Park, Burlington, MA 01803-5299, phone 617/238-7113 or fax at 617/238-7199.

The FAA views this emergency

AD as extremely serious - so much so, they will

not issue ferry permits to move affected aircraft.

OTHER FAA

NEWS

PMA

ENFORCEMENT

The FAA

has

announced that

it will

fully

enforce

total

compliance

with

the

regulations concerning the production

of replacement parts for sale and instal

lation on type certificated aircraft.

f you produce

parts for sale and in-

stallation o aircraft

you must

be

the

holder of

a

Parts

Manufacturer

Ap

proval

(PM A) issued by the FAA. As

detailed

in

Vintage

Airplane

in

the

past

, and

confirmed

in

conversations

between

the FAA

and

EAA,

this policy

statement

by the

FAA

does

not

effect

your ability to make parts for a type

certificated aircraft that you own, under

the provisions of

FAR

21.303.

20591 or call 202/267-8361.

ANOTHER

lOOLL

CONTAMINA

TION

The FAA has announced that an

other

fuel contamination incident has

occurred - this time on the East Coast.

3,000 gallons

of

100LL fuel was conta

minated with a small

amount of

diesel

fuel and was delivered to

the Chatham,

MA airport. The fuel was

used

at the

airport between December 2, 1994, and

January

13, 1995.

The contaminated fuel tested at 89.5

octane and no significant damage

has

been reported to the

FAA

as a result of

this contamination. The fuel was sup

plied by Texaco ,

who

has admitted re

sponsibility for the altered

fuel.

The

FCC LICENSE

NE

WS

Back in mid February, a bill was in

troduced

in

the

United

States

House

of

Representatives

that

could provide

the

FCC with a way

to

avoid what has be

come for them (and us ) a

bureaucratic

headache. The

title

of

the bill is: "

To

amend

the

Communications Act of

1934 in

order

to permit

recreational

ra

dio operations without radio licenses."

Representatives

Stupak

of Michigan

and Fields

of

Texas introduced the bill,

which

was

referred

to

the Commerce

Committee. t would allow the FCC to

get out of the licensing business for a por

tion of personal aviation, maritime and

personal radio services. The

part that

would affect aviation reads

as

follows:

" the commission may by rule au

thorize the operation of radio stations

without

individual

licenses

in

the

fol

lowing radio services: (A)

the

personal

radio

services; (B) aircraft

stations

op

erated on domestic flights when such

aircraft are not otherwise

required

to

carry a radio station "

"

(2) Any radio

station operator

who is authorized by the Commission to

operate

without an individual license

shall comply with all other provisions of

this Act and with rules prescribed by the

Commission under this Act."

You ' ll note

that

the bill would not

provide relief from a licensing require

ment if

you wish to fly your

aircraft

outside

of

the U.S.

-

international

agreements

still

require

a

station

li

cense for international flights.

You may wish to

contact

your U.S.

Representative

and

Senator

to urge

them to support this bill, H.R

. 963

point out that

the passage of

this

bill

will relieve the federal government of a

bureaucratic

licensing

burden, and

pro

vide you with a respite from what some

times

appears

to be a

never-ending

list

of fees

and taxes that

we

all

have to

pay. With the current

atmosphere

in

Washington of

"

making government

more

responsive to the

people

this line

of thinking may well provide a founda

tion of support.


5/36

Some

of

these guys take this STC thing

just

a bit too far

Staggerwing Club member Bill Helsell decided he 'd give the business to the young FAA inspectors who were coming for a

visit. (Should it be named the "Staggerwing OX trainer?" How about the "Staggerox?") The OX-5 seems to fit OK, and could

certainly lend itself to a nice cowl , but we're not sure that the climb and cruise won't suffer a bit from the drag

of

the radiator.

(But oh, think

of

the cabin heat you could have! ) The

90

"horseponies" put out

by

the OX are a bit on the light side as well.

We

suspect Bill and

his

rebuilder Orville Tosch probably sprained their tongues when they planted them so far into their cheeks!

Now before you go send off a note asking for more information about this modification for the Staggerwing, be sure and

check the cover date of this issue . . .

Our

thanks to George York

of

the Staggerwing Club for sharing these shots with

us

.

molded plastic knobs found in the cock

pits of so

many

of our airplanes. In

particular,

Bob is

rebuilding SIN

Aeronca

l lAC

Chief, and has to re

store the knobs for the throttle,

carb

heat

and cabin heat.

Without

resorting

to a lathe and sandpaper, which would

destroy the

heat

imprinted

legends

on

the

face

of the knob,

or

painting the

knobs themselves

(they

have a translu

cent look

to

them) is there a rejuvena

tion process

that can

be

done? If

you

know of such a method, please send

the

details to

us

here at

EAA

HQ,

at the

address at the end of

this

next IC

News item.

lC

CHAPTER

ACTIVITIES

AntiquelClassic

Chapters

have often

been

the

foc us of local

activities

for a

Those

folks in the Staggerwing Club certainly have a lot

of

fun -

member

Jim Gorman shared a list of interpretations for use the next time

you're

perus

ing the classified airplane ads Anybody else got a

few

to add to this list?

HOW

TO

INTERPRET ANTIQUE AIRPLANE ADS

Recovered -Airplane washed

Rebuilt -Recovered

Totally Restored -Recovered, painted

Fabric Good -Only

flaps

a little when flying

Fabric Fair -Finger

goes

through at the slightest touch

Rebuilt Engine

-New

spark plugs

Engine needs slight adjustment -Needs complete overhaul

Low Hours -About 10 000 hrs

Lost storage -Neighbors got court order

Needs interior -Seats are gone

NDH (No Damage History) -On its back

twice

200

mph cruise -Airspeed indicator broken

New tires Recapped

for

the third time

Modern radios -Omnigator

Propeller Overhauled -Straightened after hitting steel pole


6/36

MAIL

Dear Henry,

I thought I'd send you

the

latest up

date on the

restoration of

the

"MGM

Special." Also included is a photo you

can publish (see page 3). I'm still trying

to work up an article on the project.

Anyway, here's the latest: I was able

to get a copy of the original stress and

design analysis

done in Spetember

of

1927.

That little

gem

came from

the

San Diego

Aerospace Museum

. From

that , I was confident enough

to order

a

sufficient amount of chromoly tubing (I

hope!) to rebuild both Ryans.

Unfortunately, the

analysis

doesn

' t

have anything

on

the wood s

tructures.

I'm still looking for some form of con

struction drawings. I have a request

into

the FAA for a

copy of

what

ever

they

have

of the Approved Type Cer

tificate for the B-1 series. (#25).

f

all

else

fails,

Yankee Air Museum

in

Chino, CA has offered to call me when

their

B-1 (c/n 141 ,

NC6956)

is

rolled

onto the restoration floor. They will al

low me to take photos, dimensions, etc.,

to develop my own plans.

From

Harmon

Dickerson in

Colum

bia,

MO,

I

purchased

a partially

over

hauled Wright J-5

"W

hrlwind " engine,

with

all accessories. It 's abso lutely

georgeous

too

I

can't

wait until it's

finished and running.

Today, I

purchased

a pair

of B-1

ailerons from the Antique Airplane As

sociation . I'm also in the process of ob

taining from a

private

collector

the

DearH.G .

For

a while now I have

thought that

one

thing

that

would

add

value to the

whole of vintage/classic aircraft interest

would

be

well

prepared write-ups

com

plete with photos dedicated solely

to

what to check on any particular aircraft

prior to purchase

or

rebuild.

Because it occurs so often that a per

son,

full of enthusiasm, purchases a

cl

as s

ic ,

and

even if

it

were perfectly

painted up , finds

that

because

of per

ha ps rusted out tubing in the landing

gear, that his beautiful J-3 or other has

just now been totaled.

There

always exists a

natural

fear of

the unknown whenever I purchase a

classic. I have owned several during my

lifetime and

am

currently down

to

three,

namely

a PA-17 Vagabond , a J-3

Cub and

a beautiful Pietenpol.

Should

you publish in

Vint

age

Airplane

such a

series of articles describing what to ex

amine

closely prior

to

purchase, then

much of the usual uncertainly

will be

allayed within

all

of your members

,whether purchaser or seller. f nothing

more

, it would at least lay some

author

itative

"

sort of" ground

rules

into how

much of an inspection a person should

expect or allow on specific classics.

As an example of what I

am refer

ring to,

I

have

wanted a "good" Er

coupe/Aircoupe

for

years

. I

hav

e

the

manuals, I have bits and pieces of infor

mation, I h ave saved magazine articles,

etc., but still I shy away from purchas

is

that

there is much

to

be gained

by

knowledge

of what

to

inspect

for, not

only

for a

potential

aircraft purchaser

but for the health of the movement in

general.

Should my

suggestions

meet

with

your approval, may

I suggest the first

article

be

on

the Ercoupe

family

of

air

craft. I feel certain that the Ercoupe

Type

Club would

be happy to help

out.

Perhaps then

I will feel

more easy

re

garding the purchase of one. I have ad

mired

this little aircraft type now since

first seeing one back in the forties.

Should

you publish such an article in

VINTAGE AIRPLANE then I would

probably

have my

first Ercoupe/air

coupe

in

short order.

At

least

I

would

feel quite a bit more confident

regard

ing the aircraft, its future and my own.

Sincerely yours,

Ron M. Hynes

7 Maywood Road

Sherwood Park,

Alberta T8A

OJ9

Canada

P. S. EAA is

one

of

the

things in

this old world

that make life worth

while.

Thanks

for all

your

efforts,

and

a special

thanks to

Paul

Poberezny

, a

great man .

Ron s idea certainly

has

merit, as I m

sure that

most of

our

readers would agree.

The tough part

comes

with

the

execution

were

does

one gather the information

on

a

wide variety o aircraft types?

The

an

swer, certainly,

lies

with each of

the

Type

Clubs. Other

than

the few AI s out there

with antique/classic experience, there is

nobody with a broader knowledge o

each

aircraft

that those

who keep

the type

clubs

going. Our staff here at EAA,

while

expe

rienced,

cannot possibly cover all the air

craft that could potentially be in each o

the

articles, so, here s

my proposal:

l d

be

happy to publish a series of arti

cles on

the

pre-purchase inspection of spe

cific aircraft types authored by people with

experience with that aircraft make and


7/36

V I ~ T A 3 ~

L I T ~ l 2 A T U l 2 ~

b ,

[)ennis

IJar-k.s!)

Libr-ar- , / ~ r c h i v e s [)ir-ect()r-

From the pages ero

CHICAGO 1911

During January

1910,

air

racing

came

to America

during a meet held at Dominguez Field outside of Los

Angeles. Twenty-five thousand spectators jammed the

field to see American pilots in Wright and Curtiss ma

chines

compete

with Bleriots and

Farmans

from

Eu-

rope. Curtiss brought a new airplane and won $6,500 in

prize money for speed and endurance contests. How

ever he was outdone by Louis Paulham of France in his

Farman, who captured over $10,000 in winnings. Both

Curtiss and Wright formed flying schools and exhibit

teams during the year. The number of pilots rose from

twenty in 1909 to one hundred by the end of 1910. In

October

1910 the aviation world

gathered

again for

America's second international meet on the occasion

of the second Gordon Bennett

Cup race

, the first in

America. This event took place at Belmont Park out

side

of

New

York

City.

Prizes totaled

$73,000 with

$10,000 set aside for a race around the Statue of Lib-

The Twenty-One Prize Winners

Aviator Machine Amount

Thomas SOpwlth Blerlot, Wright 13,120

Lincoln Beachey

Curtlss.. ..

. . . . .

. .

.

. .

10,622

C.

P. Rodgers Wright.. . . . . . . 9,960

G. W. Beatty Wrigh t 6,800

Earle

Ovington Bleriot, Curtiss. . . 6,300

A. 1.. Welsh Wright . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 981

Rene

Simon

. .

.

.Molsant...

.,282

Eugene Ely Curtiss. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3,796

PhllUp Parmelee

. .

. Wright.. . . . . .

. .

3,701

James Ward

. .

Curtiss .

. .

. .. . . . .

. . . .

2,900

O. A. Brindley

Wright. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2,606

J. A. D. McCurdy

McCurdy. 1,900

Howard Glll Wrigh t 1,860

John

J. Frisbie

Curtiss ,

. .

1 .96

Lee Hammond Baldwin... 660

George Meatach o r a n e . . . . . .

. . . . .

. . . . . 460

J. C. Turpin . Wright . . . . . . . . . . .

. .

460

Paul

W.

Beck

Curtiss.. ..

.

. .

.

..

. . . . . . . . 400

J.

V.

Martin

Grahame-Whlte.

. .

.

...

. . . .

260

Frank

T. Coffyn Wright. . . . . . . . . . 160

Andrew Drew . Wright. . 160


8/36

tional aviation to the Midwest. In April

1911 a group of businessmen met at the

Greatest Event in the History of Aeronautics

invit

a

tion of

th e

Aero Club of

Illinois.

They

were asked

to

under

take

the pro

INTERNATIONAL

ject of bringing international competition

to

Chicago. Under

th e l

ea

d

er s

hip of

H

aro

ld McCormick success was assured.

A

VIATION

MEET

The site

ch

ose

n

was alo

n

gside Lake

Michigan at

Grant

Park. The location

in

downtown Chicago would ensure access

by large crowds. Ca lled the INTERNA

Grant Park-CHICAGO

TIONAL

A

VIATION

MEET

the event

was scheduled for nine days from August

August 12-20, 1911

12-20 and prize money was advertised at

$80,000.

ENTRANTS

Under Auspices

International

Aviation

Meet Association-Full

Official Sanction

T he A ugust S 1911 issue of

AERO

$80,000 N PRIZES

held that the many entries promised suc

cess of the Chicago Meet. "With a great

entry

li

st assured so

that hangar

s will be

provid

ed

for 30 mac hin es at least, and

Largest purse and most ambitiolB program ever offered in any country.

each flier entering as a contestant rather

Aviation field exceeding one mile in length. val course over one and one-thiJd miles

than as an exhibitor, it is believed

that

the

competition

will be

the

kee nest that

in circumference minimum distance. Events embrace every feature and novelty

has ever b

ee

n witnessed in America, and

that the meet will go down in aeronautic

in aviation. Hangars for 40 machines. Grand stand for 50,000 people.

annals as the beginning of truly competi

tive av ia

tion

in Am e rica .

T

he

li

st

of

thirt

y nam es published

included Harr

y

Atwood, Tom Baldwin, James McCurd

y

SPECIAL

RAILROAD RATES .

NINE

DAYS

EVERY

AFTERNOON .

Earle Ovington, Charles Willard , Linco

ln

Many Free Seats.

Beachey, Charles Hamilton, Cal Rodgers

and Eugene Ely from the United States.

International entrants included

Thomas

Sopwith, and Roland Garros.

One of

the

un u sua l fea tu res of th e m

eet

was th e

Scale of Prices, 25c to $1.50

Box

Seats

$2.00

novel pl an of di stributin g a large p

art

of

the prize money according to flying time,

thu

s making

the event

especially

at t

rac

tive to skill ed flyers. T he plan guaran

tee d contestants two do

ll

ars for eac h

erty. The Curtiss and Wright teams both

weren 't a

bl

e to match the performance of minute they were in the air during official

entered fo

ur aviators each. Th

ere

were

the Europeans. Graham-White was out

hour

s.

The

program also included a var

i-

also seven independent

Amer

ican en standing at th e mee t

winning

both th e

ety

of

contests: dura

ti

on, sp

ee

d, altitude

tra nts. Eng land, provided three pilots in

Gordon

Be nn ett Cup

and

th e

race

and cross-country races. This was the first

cluding

Cl

aude Graham-White

and around the Statue of Liberty. With in

tim e flyers weren ' t

paid appearance

Fra

nce nin e

including

Rola

nd Garros.

ternational eve nts o n both the West and

mon ey.

For

nin e days

th

e

fl

yers com

The event was quite a disappointment for

Eas

t

coasts

in 1910, it

was

dec ided in

peted for records and prizes. Top honors

the Wright a nd Curti ss tea ms who Chicago that it was time to bring interna

in th e spee d contest went to Sopwith,


9/36

'.

'

\j

'fj\'JII;Ioo

.. .

-I

Beachey and Ovington. Sopwith

recorded seven first-, two secondo,

and

one third-place awards. Prizes from the

speed

contest

netted

t he Englishman

over 10,000. Along with his other prizes

he earned over 13,000, the most for any

contestant. Beachey established an alti

tude record of 11,642 feet which wou ld

last for

three

years. Th

is

along with ten

other awards

earned

Beachey nearly

11,000.

Honors

for total duration went

to

a newcomer, Cal Rodgers. Using a

slow but reliable Wright B, he remained

aloft three

hours nearly every

day.

At

the close

of the

meet his total time aloft

was 27

hours

and

16 seconds, earning

him

over

9,000. Another highlight of

the meet

occurred

on

August

14 when

Harry

Atwood, piloting

a

Burgess-

Wright biplane

landed after

a 283 mile

trip from St. Louis . I t was the first

part

of a flight to New York city which would

earn him the 10,000

prize

offered by

Victor Evans, a Washington,

DC patent

attorney. His journey

of

1,295 miles ex

ceeded the world's distance record

by 82

miles.

(Above) Phillip Parmelee, one of the Wright team pilots, at the starting line in one of

the

short

wing Model Rs. Parmlee flew a little over five hours during

the

meet.

(Below)

Wright Model B Flyer in the

air.

Probably taken at Detroit during

September 1910.

The Model

B first flew

in July

1910.

fI

rn

."

2:

I

)

a:

I

a.

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

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

,

......

, ...........

_

...

- .......

_

_---- ..........

~ , . -

\ --------- ...._ ....._-------

\ ..., . . ----- -----.. .

I ........

L... - ..

- - T ~ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - _ _ _ _ 1 ......


10/36

(Above) This Burgess Model E also known as the Grahame-White Baby, was flown in the Chicago meet by J. V. Martin. This

aircraft was

designed

by Grahame-White

and

manufactured by

Burgess.

It is

very similar

to

a Farman biplane.

(Above right) The

Curtiss hydro-aeroplane

flown

by Hugh Robinson attracted

a

great

deal

of attention.

The use

of this craft for

rescue work was demonstrated when the pilot landed at the site of Johnstone s crash into Lake Michigan.

ACCIDENTS

Even though it was a great meet, these

we re the p ioneer days of avia

ti

on, and it

was m

arre

d by a few acc ident s, two of

th em

fa

ta

l. Bot

h

of

the fa taliti

es

took

place on Tuesday, August

15

.

In the first , Willi am Badge r, flying a

Ba ld

wi

n biplane, ove rs

tr

essed his ma

chine by making a s

udd

en di ve a

nd

a

quick climb. As the climb was begun, the

w

in gs

collapsed and the

pl

ane dropped 50

fee t to th e ground , killing Bad

ger.

He

apparently was trying to duplicate a ma

neuv

er of

Li nco ln Beach ey's , where he

dove into a sunken portion

of

Grant Park

and then pulled up abruptly into a brea th

taking climb, giving t he a

pp

ea rance of

coming

up

out of th e gro

und

to th e as

se

mbled cro

wd

.

The o th

er

victim was S

t.

Croix John

sto ne fly ing a Moisa

nt

Bl e ri o t mono-

pl ane. H e had b

ee

n in th e a ir fo r two

hours when h

is

plane sudde

nl

y dove from

abo ut 3,000 feet

in

to Lake Michigan. The

pil

ot

was

tr a

ppe d in

th

e mac

hin

e as it

sunk out of sigh

t.

Some believed that the

gyroscopic forces

of

the Moisant 's rotary

eng

in

e had caused the accident. St. Croix

had

ea rlier announced that it was his in

tenti on

to

give up flying at

th

e close of

the mee t and go into the airplane supply

bus

in

ess on a large scale in New York.

GREATEST MEET

Th e August 16, 1911 issue of

AERO

de

cl

ared th at the

Grea

t

es

t Mee t Ever

Held E nds Happily. What T om Sop

with ca

ll

ed '

th

e greates t avi ation mee t

the world has ever seen,' end ed yes ter

day, the facts and figures

of

the nine days

of

ying proving it

wi

thout the shadow of

a do

ubt. Pr

obabl y

th r

ee

or fo

ur

mil

lions of people have witnessed at least a

pa

rt of

th e m

eet,

a t which $80 ,000 in

prizes have been won, two new world 's

records made and

1

40,000 taken in a the

ga te. How many p

eo

ple have b

eco

me

prac

ti

ca lly interested in avia

ti

on as a re

sul t o f the meet is a matter of co

nj

ec

tu r

e,

b

ut

if o ne in

every

thou

sa

nd wh o wit

n

esse

d th e m

ee

t has b

ee

n co n

ve

r

te

d ,

there

are

today 3,000 new foll owers

of

the spor t , science or industry. During

the nine days th

ere

has b

ee

n tw ice as

much

fl

ying as the world has ever h

eard

of

in a like period . Lin co ln Beachey, in

an all-American Curtiss biplane, has set a

new altitude mark of

11

,578 fee t

fo

r th e

w

or

ld to ma rve l a t , a

nd

W.G. B

ea tt

y,

with th

e

ink

h

ar

dl y

dr

y o n hi s

pi l

o t ' s

br

evet, has broken a long standing

dur

a

tion r

eco

rd with a passe nger by flyin g 3

hour s, 42 minut

es

22 1/5

se

conds in an

a

ll

-Am

er

i

ca

n

Wr

ight b ipl ane .

Cal

P.

R odgers , in anoth er Wright has

fl

ow n

more

th

an 3 hour s da

il

y wi

th

out stop

ping, save on one day when his

du

ra

ti

on

was less, using a Wright biplane that he

l

ea rn

ed to fly

on l

y a mo

nth

ago

. H e

showed the co

mpar

ative simplicity

of

the

task by lolling in his seat each afternoon,

legs crossed a

nd

dangling a ciga r in his

mouth . America n m

oto

rs a

nd

Amer

i-

can ae roplanes have co me

to

the front

with indis

put

able evidence

of

supe

ri

ority.

Altitud

e and duration with a passenger,

the two most sea rching tests, have bee n

met and passed with a rush

of

victory. A

Curtiss biplane with a Curtiss m

oto

r has

taken the

fo

rmer, a Wright Biplane with

a Wright mot

or

the later, with a wo rld's

record to the credit

of

each.


11/36

Notes

From the "International Cessna

120/140 Association Newsletter":

Bill Rhoades, Newsletter Editor

(612-652-2221)

Carb Ice

Through

the years there have been

attempts to warn the pilot

of

carburetor

ice by showing the

carb

air

temp,

etc.

Back in 1946 when the Cessna 120 and

14

came out, an MIT brain" and close

friend, introduced me to the installation

of

a manifold pressure gauge in his sin

gle

engine airplane

with a fixed

pitch

prop. I soon made a similar installation

in a Cessna 140 and haven't been with

out one since . Why? I think it is the

best power indicator to use and it

is

rel

atively cheap. I take off

at

full bore and

climb at 26" HG and cruise at 23"

HG,

which is

around

65% power. Also re

member that you lose about one inch

of

manifold pressure

per

thousand feet

of

climb

up to

8,000'

where

it is

slightly

less per 1,000' climb. Anyway, back to

the

HG

meter as an ice indicator. When

flying

at

a constant altitude

and power

setting,

if any ice

starts

to form in

the

carb throat, it restricts the flow into the

induction system, which acts

the

same

as closing the throttle, except it is much

more sensitive. When this happens the

HG

meter will drop. f the ice build-up

is

small and the meter reflects it slightly,

in most cases it isn't noticeable as far as

RPM goes. f the

meter

is down but an

inch

or two of HG,

put

on carb heat.

This will cause a further drop in

HG

be

cause of less dense heated air plus pip

by orm Petersen

After the time and money

to

overhaul

the engine,

there

was too much to risk.

As

it

turned out

we found

the

fault lay

in

a new

part of

the oil pump.

Due to the way the new cover plate

was machined, it was

warped

and al

lowed oil to escape from the pump cav

ity.

My A &

P who overhauled the en-

gine had used a petroleum based grease

in the pump to keep the gears from run

ing dry until the pump primed, and this

apparently sealed

the

gap for some five

hours

of

running.

Hard

to believe,

but

it did.

Today,

after

lapping

the

cover

plate

to

the pump

body

I

get

a

strong

40-45 psi

at

cruise and

at

idle.

Thanks

for the help.

- Craig Kloppenburg, NH Rep.

From the "American Bonanza

Society" magazine

Patrick Rowley, editor

(316-945-6913)

Propeller Ordeal

Which we'll subtitle - "It pays to g t a

second opinion "

I have just gone through an interest

ing ordeal with my Beech 278 propeller

that may be

of

interest to

our

members.

About one year ago, I had my

prop

overhauled by

Thunderbird

Propellers,

Inc. ,

in Bethany

, Okla. (405-789-1830).

A short time back, after about 100 hours

in use, I began seeing stains on the back

$1600

to $1900 to have the prop re-

assembled with new parts by the local

shop, I returned it to Thunderbird .

Upon receiving the disassembled

prop, Thunderbird immediately

sum

moned an inspector from the Oklahoma

City FAA office. All parts were re-ex

amined and micrometer measurements

were referenced to the Beech overhaul

manual by both Thunderbird personnel

and the FAA inspector. The hub was

sent

out

for an X-ray procedure and in

the end, all red tags were removed by

FAA.

Additionally, not

one of

the

10

discrepancies cited

by the local

shop

proved to have any merit

t is interesting to note

that

the hub

in question was supplied during a previ

ous overhaul by the local shop that pre

cipitated

this fuss.

Additionally, both

the FAA inspector

and

Thunderbird

could not understand (1) why the prop

was disassembled for a simple blade re

placement; and (2)

the

rationale behind

the

red tags without reference to either

micrometer readings or the Beech over

haul manual.

Throughout this ordeal, Thunderbird

responded

professionally, in good faith

and with utmost courtesy. The hub was

reassembled and the prop was returned

to service. My billing from

Thunder-

bird?

Not one

red cent

Thunderbird

even prepaid the return air freight

From my experience, I would highly

recommend

Thunderbird

to owners of

older

Bonanzas over

any local

prop

shop.

These

people

are

specialists and

appear

to be in business to keep

us

fly-

ing by fixing and repairing

rather

than


12/36

cally

for the pilot

to

get in. Th

ey

roared

back to the strip where

the

36

was billowing

black

smoke from the

cabin area!

After seve ral explosions, another

employee arrived with a hand-held fire

extinguisher. The

aircraft was almost

totally

melted

down, with flames com

ing

out of the open root of the

right

wing.

The

volunteer

fireman, risking

his eyebrows, squirted

out

the remain

ing fire.

The pilot

reported that

the only con

ceivable source

of

ignition was a magni

fying glass lying on a

map

in

the

back

seat.

The rudder and elevators

are

all that

remain unscathed

-

and they may

fly

again. (The

rudder is equipped with an

SMP Upper Bracket.)

- Dick Wilson, California

From "The

Texas

Chapter AAA

Newsletter"

Penny Richards, e itor

(817-482-6175)

Temple Monoplane Arrives

Love Field

On Thursday ,

Jan.

19, the

one-of-a

kind

Temple Monoplane

was flown

from

Temple,

TX by its restorer, Jerry

Ferrel, to Love Field. Jerry donated the

plane for display

at the

Frontiers of

Flight Museum.

The Texas

Temple

was

the first

aircraft designed

to be

mass produced

in Texas by the first commercial com

pany

to be licensed to sell airplanes in

Texas .

t

was

developed and

flown in

1927 by

George

W. Williams,

Jr.

who

was

the

first man to design

and

build

an airplane in

our

state.

He

built and

flew

Texas'

first

airplane

in 1910 in the

pasture behind

his

home

in

Temple.

Jerry Ferrel has been using a Warner

engine on the Temple, so on Monday,

January 30, he and

Joe

Haynes changed

out

that

engine for its original Anzani.

The

Anzani is a Clyde Cessna modifi

ed

engine which added push rods for th e

(Ed. note:

The

Texas Temple

is

listed

in

Juptner's

Volume I Page 121,

under ATC

45 dated June

1928)

Square Tip Prop?

David

Stark

is progressing well on

his Stinson SR-9, having

completed

the

wings,

tail, and put new wood on

the

fuselage. This news

was

passed on

to

(us) here by

Joe Haynes

along wi th a

question he couldn't answer for David.

Put

on your thinking caps.

David's prop has

a

squared-off

tip.

The blade is legal, but

doesn't

look like

the original blade. The

question

is:

"Will this

square

tip provide any better

performance?"

f you

have the answer

, call

David

Stark at 817-594-9519.

From "The Bucker Newsletter"

Chris Arvanites, e itor publisher

815-436-1011)

I attended an FAA Seminar the other

day regarding approved parts

for air

craft. t covered acceptable standards of

certification, identification of

parts

, ac

ceptable traceability , and how to

deter

mine if the parts conform to type design.

All these parts

that are approved is

any

part that is manufactured and approved

under

the provisions

of FAR

Part 21,

provided that the part

is used

for the

purpose it was originally intended and it

has been maintained

in

an airworthy

condition. As far as being airworthy,

they say

that

a part must

conform

to

type design and be in condition for safe

operation. Do

you

know that

you

can

produce a part for your own aircraft?

A few important things to remember

. .. know your supplier, issue specific in

structions on the P. O

.

(Purchase Or

der), perform receiving inspections

and

have a good certification and traceabil

ity.

There

is an

avition safety

hotline

number: 800/255-111l.

Also

something to

know

is

they

are

going to do away with all yellow tags on

parts and an

FAA

form 8130-3 airwor

enced a loss of oil pressure and

an

in

crease in oil

temperature.

While at

tempting to

locate

an

airport

for

land

ing

,

the engine quit.

The aircraft

sustained substantial damage during the

off-airport landing.

An

investigation and

engine

tear

down revealed sma ll

pieces of

a

paper

towel

caught

in

the

oil

pickup

strainer.

The remainder of the

paper

towel was

found

in

the engine

oil sump. t was

determined

the

paper

towel restricted

and/or blocked

oil flow

to the

engine,

resulting

in

#1 rod

bearing seizure

and

failure of the

connecting

rod.

Although the chain of

events

that

led to the

paper

towel getting into the

engine

could

not be determined,

it re

minds us

of the care that must

be

taken during maintenance

to

assure

items are not

left

in inappropriate

places.

Quite

often

towels or

rags are

used

to cover crankcases when

cylin

ders

are

removed

or oil dipsticks

are

taken out. Additionally, tools

used

during maintenance

have

been left

in

places

where

they could cause

fatal

damage

to

the aircraft and

its occu

pants. In this case , the occupants suf

fered

serious

injuries and a beautiful

aircraft was destroyed. Please use the

events related

in

this article

as a

re

minder to review your procedures for

assuring

proper

control of

all

items

not

intended for installation in the as

sembly

on

which you are working.

From Coupe Capers -

Ercoupe

Owners

Club

Carolyn Carden, e itor

(919-477-1832)

When Roy Prugh

wanted to

work

on his nose

gear strut, he

had to

raise

the

nose

of the

plane and control

its

position

by him self.

To do this,

he

started by removing the cowl,

then

lowering the tail with two bags of soft

ener

salt.

(Ed. note: think I'd want to wrap

tho

se

bags

in

plastic, and then give the

airplane a

good

bath after this

You also


13/36

RIC

REJUVEN TION

by W. D. Dip Davis N 1804 Cooper Aircraft, Inc.

Restoring

Your

Aircrafts Dope

inish

.

Here we go, misleading you right from

the title. Actually aircraft covering fabric

can't

be rejuvenated.

The

term really

refers to a process of restoring the finish

that is applied

to the fabric. Since syn

thetic fabrics, primarily polyesters , have

almost completely replaced the organic

materials of coUon and linen, the useful

life

of

the

actual aircraft covering has

been extended many times

over

, and un

less given regular doses of tender loving

care , the finish will

deteriorate

to the

point of unacceptability while the fabric

itself is still airworthy.

Thought should be given to the condi

tion

of

the

structure

which

is

hidden by

the fabric

on components

which can ' t be

thoroughly inspected through access pan

els .

The

amount

of

deterioration which

can occur in 15 or

20

years could be

enough to cause catastrophic failure un

der severe loads. f you (and your in

spector) are

satisfied with

the condition

of

the basic

airframe and have deter

mined that

the

fabric

itself

still

tests

above the minimum allowable tensile

strength, which

is

based on the wing load

ing and never exceed

(red

line)

speed of

the particular aircraft then finish rejuve

nation can be done.

Airplanes with a wing loading of nine

pounds per square foot

or less and a Vne

lowing direct exposure to sunlight. How

ever, there are probably cracks in the fin

ish next to

stringers

or other supporting

structure. Ringworming can happen

where a sharp

blow

occurred,

such as

from a hailstone

or

small

stones

from an

unimproved runway. These areas will re

quire individual attention before begin

ning an overa

ll

finish rejuvenation.

First, determine that the finish is

dope

rather

than enamel

or

other non-soluble

material.

f

there is any question about

the

topcoat, a quick

determination

may

be made by dampening a cloth with

MEK

or

acetone

and rubbing lightly in an in

conspicuous spot.

f

the color comes off

on your rag, the finish

is

resoluble.

Don't

be

misled by the removal of a little oxi

dized pigment-you can feel a drag

or

re

sistance to your rubbing if the material is

being softened. Check on the trim stripes

and registration numbers we well. It 's

not uncommon to

find that someone

sprayed enamel

trim

over

a

pigmented

dope base coat. This

can

usually be re

moved using sandpaper and /or solvents.

An

enamel finish is generally not re

pairable. f

the

topcoat is

beginning to

chip and flake in large areas it might be

feasible to remove dry using plastic scrap

ers. Chemical

paint

removers almost

never produce satisfactory results in re

dry. A terry cloth towel rinsed often and

pretty

well

wrung out

will

remove

all

of

the

soap

residue without a total soaking.

You will be amazed at the amount of oxi

dized dope which will be removed, which

will

open

the pores and allow good pene

tration

of

the rejuvenator.

When the airplane

is

completely

dry

you can

attend

to the cracks and ring

worms in

the

finish by brushing unre

duced rejuvenator

onto

those areas using

a

small

watercolor brush. Allow a few

minutes for the solvents to work and ap

ply a second coat. Thick finishes may re

quire

a third or even fourth application

to soften all

of

the material clear down to

the fabric. Avoid

direct

sunlight and

temperatures above about

85

degrees

,

which will dry

the

solvents before they

have

had

time

to

perform their

task.

When the dope is pliable enough to allow

you to

do so

, heal the cracks by rub

bing the softened dope into them with

your finger , making the surface as smooth

as possible and avoiding furrows.

After

all the damaged areas have been

taken care of, a spray coat of rejuvenator

is

applied to the entire surface.

Rejuvenator

is

a special

blend of

sol

vents and plasticizers that are strong

enough to penetrate completely through

old , brittle or sun baked nitrate or bu

tyrate dope.

It will probably be necessary to reduce

or thin the material to get it to atomize

properly

for spraying . Use retarder or

retarding

thinner rather

than regular

dope thinner so that the surface will stay

wet long enough for the solvents to pene

trate the entire dope film . Unless yours

is a minimal thickness finish, a second ap

plication of rejuvenator will be required.

This

is

followed

by a coat of

non

taut

ening clear

butyrate dope before the re

juvenator has

cured

more than a few

hours. Clear dope doesn't make a good

topcoat as it will tend to yellow with age ,

so

a light

coat of

pigmented

dope

should

be applied as soon as practical. You will

find that the original trim stripes and reg

istration number lines are still quite evi

dent and it won't be difficult to mask off


14/36

by H G Frautschy

Details

Details

he

Custom category

of

the

judging

guidelines for Classic airplanes allows for

modification for those who prefer

an

air-

pl ne

with

a few

more

amenities. You

Frank

Sperandeo II/IS

can take

it

as far as you wish from the

simple addition of a shiny paint job to

an

otherwise stock Piper Cub ll the way to

Piper

PA 20/22

Pacer

what you see on these pages.

( '

cl ai

r:

c

8

w

i

o

o

(Above left) In

the

category of

aerodynamic mods, the wings saw

a

great deal

of

cleaning

up. On

top of

the wing, the aileron

horns

were

covered

by

a

pair of

fairings. The

light two

piece

affair fits

cleanly

over the

aileron

horns on both the top and the bot

tom of the wings, and as the aileron

is

moved, the fairings telescope inside

of

one

another.

The flap

hinges

were also given a sim

ilar

treatment. All of these

fairings

were made of

fiberglass. The

fairing molds were first built up with balsa wood,

and

then fash

ioned out of multi-directional glass cloth.

(Above center) Even the

lowly

tailwheel was given its proper attention. Yes, Frank assures me that

the

tailwheel springs were

baked

to

eliminate hydrogen embrittlement after chroming. Thin

plastic

spring shims are used to keep

the

springs

from

chafing

on each other.

(Above right) Good golly, even his tiedowns were given the polishing treatment! Frank improved upon the three spike tiedown by

putting a bushing, made of Nylatrona graphite impregnated nylon invented

by

Dupont. He also used

the

Nylatroll

for the

cable

fairleads. Teflon

was

used

for

the control yoke bushing mounted

in

the instrument

panel.


15/36

ank

Sperandeo III

(EAA 387132)

of Fayetteville, AR wanted an airplane

he could fly,

but

he also

wanted

some-

thing beautiful

at

the same time, and to

his eye,

that

meant each and every sur-

face

and

fitting on his

airplane

was

to

be

worked

on . Each part was to be

machined to a gleaming

finish,

po l-

ished, painted and buffed to perfection

or

it didn

' t

get on

the airplane . He

works

as a design

engineer

teaching

students the fine art of manufacturing

design

processes

in

the

physics

lab

at

the

University of

Arkansas, and

solv-

ing difficult mechanical

problems is

just part of the job. His job routinely

involves tolerances as tight as 113 the

thickness of a

human

hair (1 mil).

Frank also enjoys the cha ll enge of

imagining modifications and then ma-

chining them

into reality. (He

's a

pretty hot banjo player too ) On his

Piper

PA-20-22

Pacer, Frank has 75

different modifications he worked into

the basic airframe.

Special spring-loaded gap sea ls on

the aerodynamic s

ur f

aces, based on

Frank's

design

of

a spring lo

aded

laser

mirror mount

for

the

physics lab

were

built and installed. During EAA

Oshkosh '94 they were some of the

most talked

about

modifications

made

to the airplane.

Seemingly easy changes were made

to the airplane to

make

using it just a

bit easier. The baggage door is

held

open by a

gas-charged

door

opener

adapted from

an

automotive app lica-

tion . Wh en the door is opened, a mi-

croswitch activates a pair of lights in-

side

the

compartment so you

can

see

what

you

are doing . A custom de

signed microchip circuit then turns off

the lights after

2 112

minutes. All doors

are carefully sealed with weatherstrip-

ping to preclude excess w

ind

noise,

and

the doors were

installed

with

at

The

instrument

panel

does not depart

from

the original configuration

as

far

as

instru-

ment layout is concerned, but it was extended 2 inches on the

bottom

to make room for

switches and

circuit

breakers. t features a pair of yokes salvaged

from

a Piper Seneca

II. t has a

few

electronic gadgets

that

were fun

for

Frank to create. They re detailed in

the

text. Full dual controls , including brakes, are included on this Pacer.

An

interesting

addition

to

the

panel is a small

receptacle

(on

the

far

left

bottom

of

the

panel)

for

the

external antenna of a handheld radio, just in case

the

panel mounted

unit

fails.


16/36

tant

on

a

cross

country

trip,

because

he has two lon g range tanks installed.

Flying solo with the

tanks

filled to

the

brim with 64 gallons of 100 octane

gives him

an

endurance of nearly 7 112

hours

his

modifications

to

a

mInImum.

Amazing weight savings

were

realized

by shaving 17

pounds

from

the seat

cushions

-

the result

of

removing steel

springs

from

the

cushions

and

replac

ing them with progressive resistance


17/36

(Above) The engine

compartment

filled

with the

sparkling Lycoming 0-32OB2B en-

gine

won

Frank

a

special

Antique/Classic award for the Best Custom

Engine Instal-

lation.

He

says

that a big portion of the

credit

for the compartments looks go to

air-

craft restoration

mechanic

Bob Bell of Springdale, AR. The ripple free baffles and

firewall

have a fine brushed finish, and even the

rubber hoses

in the

compartment

get

special

treatment with some silicone

and ArmorAII.

On the

back of

the

stain-

less steel baffles,

you

can see the

twin

air

intakes

for

the cabin

heater. Frank

says

that

he has

not

experienced any engine cooling losses due

to

this

installation,

but

he

was

careful

to point

out that

the

baffles and the

cowling

are all tightly fitted, so

there are

few

air

leaks. The

cowl

tops are held in

place

by a

pair

of

chromed tele-

scoping

tubes that

are locked

in

place with a thumbscrew.

It s not

visible in this

view, but the engine oil cooler is relocated to the back left engine baffle, using

an

available STC. The fuel sample tester and mount are available from Sporty s Pilot

Shop - you ll have

to

add

your

own

chrome

plating.

(Above) The cowl has been extensively modified, beginning

with

the

filling

of all the

holes on

the bowl

save

for the

cylinder cooling holes and

carb air

intake.

A starter

from B C

Specialty,

manufacturers

of an STC d

unit

for the

Lycoming was

used,

eliminating the protruding starter drive on the front of the nosebowl. A new scoop


18/36

934

T OMPSON

TROP Y

The winners

57

Roscoe Turner -

Wedell Turner

248.13

mph

33

Roy Minor

-

Brown B 2

214.93 mph

92

John Worthen -

Wedell-WIlliams

92


19/36

1933

T OMPSON

TROP Y

paintings y rank Warren

The winners

44

Jimmy

Wedell

Wedell-WIlliams 44

237 95 mph

92 Lee

Gehlbach

Wedell-WIlliams 92

224 95

mph

38 Roy

Minor Howard Mike

199 87

mph

Others in

the race:

1 George Hague Rider R-2

54

ZD.

Granville

Gee

Bee

Y

2 Roscoe Turner Wedell Turner

Disqualified cut

pylon

had fastest lap speed in race 265 mph)


20/36

y

orm

etersen

When all the shouting was over and the

co-owners of

th e airplane are Gene


21/36

Hills Comm

unit

y Co

ll

ege. He then be

Above) Original

interior

and

instrument

panel of N7758T features

black and ivory coloring. Center console has knobby trim wheel

and

manual

flap

operating handle - a feature loved by

many

pilots.

In this

day and

age,

the chrome

ash

tray on the

left

wall looks

a

bit

superfluous Left) High

among the fleecy

white clouds, Gary

Granfors brings the award winning

172 in

close

for Jim

Koepnick's

camera. Mike

Richardson

is

in the right

seat.

Note the standard

landing

light

in

the

leading edge

of

the

left

wing.

Dual

21-gallon

wing tanks caps are visible on

top

of the 36-foot wing. Below)

Close friends since

fourth

grade, Mike Richardson on

the

left and

Gary Granfors on

the

right, pose in front of

the award

winning

Cessna 172.

3

J

E

=;

in the small

town

of Hampton, Iowa. Cessna award in the 1701172 175 classifica


22/36

Reserve Grand h mpion-

ontemporary lass

genu ine nose

wh

ee l fairing, installing ex

ha ust pipe ex tensions to help kee p th e

be lly clean and carefully placing the o rigi

na

l

deca

ls

(as rep

rodu

ce

d by M

oo

dy

Graphi cs in Florid a) in the ir

exac

t loca

tio n

s.

A full -fl ow oi l filt e r kit was in

stalled to he lp keep the o riginal Continen-

tal

0-300

engine

cl

ean interna

ll

y.

Perhaps nowhere e lse is t

ea

mwork so

import ant than in polishin g a metal air

plane. It takes gobs of elbow grease and

can be a rea l ph

ys

ical cha llenge , such as

layi ng on your back, polishin g th e be

ll

y

above

you . This kind of

work

will

soo

n

make a co nvert out

of

th e stro ngest be-

liever - a ll airplanes should be pa inted

However, this partic

ul

ar 172 came o ut of

the fac tory in

bare

metal and paint - and

th

at

was

th

e goal. The work began.

Using every kind of polish available to

get the oxidation and scratches removed,

the crew ended up with Rolite for the mir

ror-finish shine. In spite o f sore muscles,

the result s were quite spectacul ar. When

contrasted with the o riginal paint scheme

of ivo ry a

nd

oran

ge,

alo ng with bl ac k

numbers on the wing and tail , the result is

a pleasing combination of brilliant metal

and shiny paint. Again, the super de ta il

ing improves th e o v

era

ll i

mpr

ess ion and

add s the important accents, so necessa ry

to achieving a balanced loo k. It is readily

apparent the Cessna marketing people did

their homework in

196O

Th e 172 is flo

wn

stri ctly as a VFR air

plane in that it has a Comm radio, a Loran

C fo r naviga

ti

on and an EL

T. Th

e original

ventu ris on the s ide of th e fuse lage runs

the three gyros in the pane l. Everything in

the

int

e

ri

or is just like it came o ut of th e

facto ry in 1960. This includes the o

ri

ginal

Ow

ner 's Manu al an d ph otos from 1960,

de ta iling th e ai rplane. (A bout the only

thing missing is th e 1960 sectional chart

the fa ctory ferry pilot wo

ul

d have used on

the delivery

fl

ig

ht )

The Annual Inspection on th e airplane

w

as

done by ve ter a n m

ec

hani c, W

ade

Lowry (EAA 138970), of Airlake Indus

trial Airport. Wade went through the old

girl from stem to stern and said, This has

to be

th

e cl

ea

n

es

t ai

rpl

ane I h

ave

ever

seen "

And

Wade Lowry has seen quite a

few airplanes in his long span of yea rs as

an " IA." It was at this point the

fo

ur own

ers began to suspect th ey had a winner on

their hands.

Gary G ranfors an d

hi

s sidekick, Mike

Richardson,

fl

ew the pretty bird to EAA

Oshkosh '94 and the res t is hi story. Ou r

co ngr

at

ul a ti ons go out to th e " fa mo us

fo

ur

so me who have work ed so hard to

upgrad e the Cessna to champio nship cal

ibe

r.

We look forward to seeing your pol

ished swe pt t ai l" o n th e lin e a t EAA

Oshkosh '95. ....

nately no one was hurt T

HI

S time.


23/36

by Cy Galley

That Old ir Compressor Could be Deadly!

One of

the

first purchases when

setting up a shop is probab ly one of

those cheap roll-a-round air compres

sors . Just about

everybody

is on a

budget these days, and since they

work

and

you only need one occa

sionally, why not

save

a few

dollars?

Wherever there

are

tires,

or

parts

to

be cleaned, it comes in

very

handy .

An "old-timer" can tell you

that

it

will sandblast rusted parts and then

paint them

so they

look

like

new.

You can bust rusted nuts , cut off muf

flers, drill holes,

drive

rivets, run im

pact wrenches, plus

sand and

buff.

Very handy indeed without the

fear

of

electrocution

present with electri

cal

too

l

s.

What

some "old-timers"

don

't real

ize is that their old compressors are

also time bombs. Time bombs

j ust

waiting to kill or maim them

and

pos

sibly YOU.

What did yo u look for whe n you

went to

buy

your

co

mpressor?

Most

people look

to get

the most powerful

motor, the largest tank, the

most

cubic

foot per minute o u

tput

for

their

money . These are very

important

items for

sure , but do

we

check the

working pressure

rating, a

reliable

pressure re lief valve, or

an

easy work

not

in the corner

of

the barn . Twenty-five

years

of

typica l "put it in

the corner

of

the barn and

forget it service." Plug it

in when air was needed. Then forget it

'til next time. Well , the last time they

won ' t forget- it exploded

The

cylin

drical

tank

now looks like a pig- a fly

ing pig with its wings fully extended.

I t

was on wheels. They found one of the

wheels

at

the opposite end

of

the barn.

Th e

other

wheel

flew out

th e

door

never to be seen again

Mark brought it to our attention be

cause there are probably many, many

other

inexpensive compressor tanks

just waiting

to " getcha." The best

guess was

that

the

electrical

pressure

switch stuck.

Witho

ut a

safety

valve,

press

ure kept building 'til fina lly the

ta nk exploded

Why wasn 't there a mechanical pres

sure safety valve? So it could be sold at

a low price, this corner was cut. Fortu

I to o k t he re mai

ns

of

th

e t ank

home. Fro m the

ru

st line

on

th e in

side

of th

e ta

nk

, wate r had bee n sta

nd

ing in the b

otto

m of the ta nk at least a

co up le inc hes dee p for a long, lo ng

t

im

e. Su r

pr i

s

in

gly, th e co nd e n

sate

dr ain valve was we ll worn by th e pli

ers

u

se

d

to

open and cl

ose

it

afte

r the

ha ndle

br

o ke. T he ta nk o nce had a

wa

ll thickn ess of 0.060 in. - af ter the

fai lu

re,

it now m easures about 0.020,

with heavy

pittin

g a t

th

e

rup

t

ur

e line.

Unbelievably all the welds held.

B

efo

r e Ma rk unv e il e d the de

s t roye d ta nk at o u r meet ing I ha d

h eard

of

ta nk ex plos ions,

bu

t had

never seen the results. I took the tank

home to wri te this

ar t

icle and started

aski ng q u

estions.

Ot

her members

started telling me

compressor

stories.

One

was

ab out a fairly

new

rig. The

owner

left it p lugged in so that he had

air without a wait. Coming back from

town one day, he noticed a hole in

the

metal roof of his shop.

Yep the

re

mains

of the

compressor, tank,

and

all

were

out behind the

shed.

I

called

several compressor

sales

companies.

Some comments

were

downright

hos

tile. Why all

the

hostility?

They

were

upset that

the unknowing

trusting

public were buying these

cheap

out

fits, and that they

could

not compete

with

the

low

prices.

Yet they were

also concerned

that

these

low priced

rigs down

the road

,

IF not

correctly

maintained

and checked,

could be

killers.

What does

this

ruptured tank

tell

us? Ch

eck your comp

ressor

set

up, es

pecially if it is inexpensive .

Does

it

have a

worki

ng safety valve? f the

when yo u insta ll that

new

hot water


24/36

The corrosion found on the inside of this air compres

sor tank

is quite severe. As you

can see

the welded

seam

of

the tank

held

when

the

steel

tank

ruptured

.

tank

s

several years old , you might

do

a

hydrostatic

pressure test.

For the

test, the tank is completely filled with

water,

and

then

pressure is app lied

with a

hand pump.

Then if

the tank

ruptures, the

incompressible

water

will

spurt

out. The difference in how

the

water

under pressure will rupture

the failure prone tank can be ex

plained with the

analogy of a water

filled balloon - rather

than

the

loud

explosive bang you get

when

you

over

fill a balloon with gas, a

completely

filled

water balloon will simply

"sploosh its

contents out

all

over

the

floor.

Oddly

enough,

Jim

Smith, our

other

Technical

Counselor , said that

even though an air tank can be a prob

lem , it

wasn't

as big a

problem

as

the

common

hot

water tank in

every

home . Every hot

water

heater shou ld

factor of 1600

times

. t is

instant

rocket

time.

He

has pictures of the

roof exit points of several water

heaters. Navy guys shou ld remember

that carrier launches are done

with a

steam catapult,

because

of

this very

large

expansion figure. So make sure

tank

, to also install a new relief valve.

From my research,

the test

pres

sure for hydrostatic testing is 150

per

cent your working pressure, i.e.

150

psi if

you

turn the

compressor

off at

100 psi .

There

are standards

for tanks in the

work place determined

by

the Ameri

can Society of Mechanical Engineers.

You can

inspect

ASME rated tanks

with working pressures

of

125

and

200

psi. These

can

be visually inspected as

they have a large

enough

plug so you

can insert a mirror and light.

If OSHA

comes

around, the

safety

pressure

re

lief valve

better

be

set

for these work

ing pressures

or

it

s

big fine time.

Your

safety valve should not be for

more than

100 psi , which is the work

ing pressure for most non-ASME

cheap

tanks. Before you run the pres

sure above the rated pressure on your

ta nk, take

another

look at the pictures

with this story.

Do

you rea lly want to

do

a

dynamic

tank

test

inside

your

sh

op?

So

safety

check your

tank.

See that

it has a working safety valve.

Do

a hy

drostatic pressure test if it has

been

in

use severa l years.

Make

it a

habit to

drain

your ta nk

after

use before quit

ting for the day. Waiting unti l the

next

time yo

u use the compressor

might

be months. Months that just

might corrode your tank into a Time

Bomb


25/36

IVII T OUR

MEMBERS

RE

RESTORING

by Norm

Petersen

are

then put in the 1979

T-Craft

F-19, N2004A, S N F

153, powered with a Lycoming 0-235

with

complete

e lectrical systems, radios, gyros and the works to finish

out

their Private license requirements - and never be ex

posed to a nosewheel

There

are a considerable num

ber of students

who

desire this exact

type

of training

and are extremely proud when they receive their ticket.

The contactperson at the club

is

Merton Meade, Jr.,

P

O. Box 1132, Leesburg,

VA

22075.

Vintage Aeroplanes of Leesburg

These two Taylorcraft airplanes are specifically used

for

training

brand new students in the joys of flying a

tailwheel aircraft. The first is a 1946 T-Craft BC-12D,

N422JE,

S N

9689, powered with a Continental A65 and

swinging a wooden propeller.

The

students are taken up

through their first dual cross-country in this airplane

complete with hand propping and

the

whole bit. They

Don Macor's Republic RC-3 Seabee

This beautiful

photo of Don

Macor s

Republic Seabee, N6224K,

S N

430, was

sent in by his good friend , Bruce Dudley

(EAA

347684, A C 21819) of Duluth , MN.

A

nearly

original

Seabee,

it still has

the

Franklin

B9-F engine

of

215 hp, control

lable prop

and

wing splates. The Seabee

had

been

laying derelic t for 23 years when

Don

acquired the project and proceeded

with the lon g rebuild.

He

literally had to

teach the Seabee how to

fly

again - it's fly-

ing very well now and really looks sharp in

its

original

silver

and blue paint scheme.

The

Seabee

is based

at

Sky

Harbor

Air

port and Seaplane Base on the east end of

the

Duluth

harbor, a most de lightful

spot

for watching seaplanes come and go.

Lee Parsons' Waco QCF-2


26/36

This

photo

of

Waco

QCF-2, NC11427, S N 3488, was

sent in by

Tony

Morozows ky , who

took

it

at their

Zanesville, OR, fly-in. The aircraft has been owned by

Le

e P

arso

ns (EAA 304394, A C 12214)

of Carreiton

,

Ohio, since he

bou

ght it from Bill

Gieb

in 1962. A com

plete restoration

was

don

e from 1970 to 1976 including

a new Contine

nt

al 220 hp engine from Cliff

Du

Charme

at West Bend, WI. T he Waco won

the

Si lver Age Run

n

er-up

tr

op

hy

at Oshkosh

'76

and

the Best Customized

Champion

Antique

at

Oshkosh

'78. t also

garnered the

Grand

Champion Trophy at the AAA Fly-In at Blakes

burg, lA , in '76. Lee is also restoring a second F-2 since

retiring as a Captain

for USAir. With

over

30,000

hours

in his l

ogbook, he

feels

very

fortunate

to hav

e

flown

DC-3

up through the "glass

cockpit"

of

the

7571767

Frakes Turbine Mallard, G-73

This

pretty

photo of a Turbine

Grum

man Mallard , N609SS,

SIN

1-09, nosed up

on a sandy shore in

Puerto

Rico, was

sent

in by Capt. Michael Steers (EAA 480778)

of St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. Al

though

quite modern

looking,

the Grum

man Mallard was manufactured in the late

1940's and

is

12 years

older than

Michael ,

who taught the

owner

how to

fly

the air

plane and acquire a

rating

t was con

verted

to

turbine power

by Frakes Avia

tion

which in

conjunction with

the fully

reversing propellers, allows the airpl

ane

to

push itself away from shore.

The

original

e

ngines

were

P&W

R-1340 's of 600

hp

.

There are presently 32 Grumman Mallards

remaining on the U.S. register.

. t f r : ~

/ jJ." ')

So

went

a quick exchange of letters a

few weeks back. Dick had purchased our


27/36

(

t

r ., . ;

by

Buck

Hi

lbert EAA 21 Ale

5

P.O. Box

424

Union

, IL 60180

Dear Buck,

I

was always

under

the

impression that

years

ago there was

a type of

Hobbs

meter

that was used to record the engine hours

on

aircraft that

did

not have

an

electrical

system. My thinking is that the

recording

instrument was activated

by the

vibration

of

the running engine. In on

vintage airplane - apr 1995

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