vintage airplane - jun 2012

8/20/2019 Vintage Airplane - Jun 2012

1/44

june 2012


2/44

The New 2013 Lin coln MKS

Exquisitely Crafed to Raise Eyebrows

The new 2013 Lincoln MKS delivers the performance and technology you’ll

appreciate in a luxury sedan The exclusive Lincoln Drive Control system makes

The Privilege o Partnership

EAA members are eligible for special pricing on Ford Motor Company

vehicles through Ford’s Partner Recognition Program To learn more on

L I N C O L N


3/44

2 Straight and Level Your AirVenture Bucket List by Geoff Robison

3 Friends of the Red Barn

4 Aeromail

6 News

7 Book Review

8 T-Craft Tale With a Twist LSA meets vintage by Budd Davisson

16 Type Club Notes Oil leaks . . . where? Oh, where! by George Horn

17 The Hunter Brothers Part 1, A flying family from Sparta, Illinois by Robert H. Hayes

22 Nobody Whistles at Coveralls Adventure with the Curtiss crew by S. Michelle Souder

23 Light Plane Heritage Exploring Early Rotary Engines by Bob Whittier

28 The Vintage Mechanic Truss-type fuselage structures by Robert G. Lock

32 The Vintage Instructor Wind, takeoff, and traffic patterns, Part 1 by Steve Krog, CFI

34 Mystery Plane by H.G. Frautschy

A I R P L A N E J U N EC O N T E N T S

S T A F FEAA Publisher Rod HightowerDirector of EAA Publications J. Mac McClellan

Executive Director/Editor H.G. FrautschyBusiness Manager Kathleen WitmanSenior Art Director Olivia P. Trabbold

Advertising:Manager/Domestic, Sue AndersonTel: 920-426-6127 Email: [email protected] Fax: 920-426-4828

C O V E R S

Vol. 40, No. 6 2012

FRONT COVER: With a color scheme honoring a Taylorcraft used by Cliff

Henderson’s staff of the National Air Races of 1937, this bright little gem was

restored by Don Hernke of Cannon Falls, Minnesota, and is now owned and

flown by Michael Zidziunas of Lakeland, Florida, and Peter Van Spronsen. The

engine powering the T-Craft, a Lycoming O-145, may not have been as popular

as the Continental A-65, but it has a loyal following among antique aircraft afi-

cionados. EAA photo by Tyson Rininger.

BACK COVER:

The joys of flying a Cub are doubled with the addition of apair of EDO floats in this ink and watercolor illustration by Bob O’Hara, part of a

series of Young Eagles themed illustrations which we’ll be sharing with you in

the coming months. An enthusiastic young lady enjoys the sights, sounds and

smells of cruising the shoreline near Snug Harbor during her Young Eagles flight

in a Piper J-3 Cub on floats.

8


4/44

Wow! As I write thisit ’s mid-M ay, and

AirVenture is a mere

nine weeks away. The

excitement continues to grow for

what I will yet again predict to be

another excellent year to attend Air-

Venture in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. All

you really have to do is go to http://

bcove.me/w2grykdi and watch EAA’s

video titled “What’s on Your Air-

Venture Bucket List.” Be sure to turn

up the sound and click on the lower

right of the window to put the video

in full-screen mode. If you don’t feel

the energy and desire to pack up the

airplane or car and head to Oshkosh,

Wisconsin, for this event, then you,sir or madam, have nothing but ice

water running through your veins,

or you do not have a single aviation

bone in your entire body! Be pre-

pared to become obsessed! You just

have to be there . . . it will be wild!

I would also suggest that you give

some thought to volunteering withthe Vintage team of volunteers. Ev-

ery year the Vintage Division of EAA

attracts more than 450 folks who

will volunteer more than 22,500

total hours of sometimes hard but

always enjoyable work to this won-

we will be in need of some additionalpersonnel to assist us in making this

operation a real success. If you make

the decision to come join us, you can

feel free to contact the various chair-

men from the list below.

Convention ManagementGeoff Robison 260-437-5579

EAA AeromartPaul Kyle 262-844-3351

Judging/Chief JudgeDave Clark 317-839-4500

Computer OperationsEarl Nicholas 847-367-9667

Construction & MaintenanceMike Blombach 260-745-2339

Setup & Transportation

Phil Blake 507-256-4543Headquarters/SalesRuth Coulson 269-624-6490

VAA HQ Hospitality Jeannie Hill 815-943-7205

Interview CircleRay Johnson 765-664-2588

Merchandise

Bob Lumley 262-782-2633 Metal Working ShopSteve Nesse 507-373-1674

Aircraft Parking/SafetyKathy McGurran 303-671-9612

VAA SecurityTim Fox 260-486-8126

ing space at AirVenture each year.These returning Champions are al-

ways parked facing west on the east

side of the road in front of the Vin-

tage Red Barn and Vintage Hangar

area. These Grand Champion air-

craft represent the “best of the best.”

They’re among the finest examples

of why we as members of the Vintage

movement are dedicated to the pres-

ervation of the artifacts as well as the

history of these old flying machines.

It’s always nice to be able to check

out these fabulous aircraft and to take

a moment to appreciate the TLC that

is provided for these aircraft in their

routine upkeep and maintenance. I

oftentimes will target one of theseold birds and spend as much as an

hour just looking it over. It’s amazing

to me the number of little details you

will notice and pick up on when you

take an extra moment to give such a

great restoration a good look.

Geoff Robison

president, VAA

STRAIGHT & LEVEL

Your AirVenture Bucket List

VAA is about participation:

Be a member! Be a volunteer!

Be there!

Do yourself a favor and ask a


5/44

VAA Friends of the Red BarnYour support is crucial to the success of

VAA’s EAA AirVenture activities and programs

BY H.G. FRAUTSCHY

VAA members like you are passionate about your affi liation with vintage aviation, and

it shows. You’re the most loyal of all EAA members, renewing your VAA membership each

and every year at a rate higher than any other group within the EAA family. We appreciate

your dedication! Each year about this time we give you another opportunity to strengthen

your bond with the VAA by inviting you to become a Friend of the Red Barn.

This special, once-a-year opportunity helps VAA put together all the components

that make the Vintage area of EAA AirVenture a unique and exciting part of the World’sGreatest Aviation Celebration. This special fund was established to cover a significant

portion of the VAA’s expenses related to serving VAA members during EAA AirVenture

Oshkosh, so that no dues money is used to support the convention activities.

This is a great opportunity for Vintage members to join together as key financial

supporters of the Vintage division. It’s a rewarding experience for each of us as

individuals to be a part of supporting the finest gathering of Antique, Classic, and

Contemporary airplanes in the world.

At whatever level is comfortable for you, won’t you please join those of us who

recognize the tremendously valuable key role the Vintage Aircraft Association has played

in preserving the irreplaceable grassroots and general aviation airplanes of the last 100

years? Your participation in EAA Vintage Aircraft Association’s Friends of the Red Barn will

help ensure the very finest in EAA AirVenture Oshkosh Vintage programs.

To participate in this year’s campaign, fill out the donation form below and return it

in the envelope included in this magazine or visit our website at www.VintageAircraft.

org/programs/redbarn.html to make an online contribution. And to each and every one

of you who has already contributed, or is about to, a heartfelt “thank you”

from the offi cers, directors, staff, and volunteers of the Vintage Aircraft Association!

VAA Friends of the Red Barn

Name______________________________________________________________________EAA #___________ VAA #___________

Address______________________________________________________________________________________________________

City/State/Zip________________________________________________________________________________________________

Phone___________________________________________________E-Mail______________________________________________

Please choose your level of participation: Payment Enclosed (Make checks payable to Vintage Aircraft Assoc.)

____ Diamond Plus $1,500.00 ____ Gold Level Gift - $500.00 ____ Loyal Supporter Gift - ($99.00 or

✃

STEVE MOYER PHOTOS


6/44

Cub Memories

Dear Mr. Handleman,

I read your article “Going Home

Again” about the history of the Cub

in the December 2011 issue of Vin-

tage Airplane. Thanks for the nice ar-

ticle; I, too, used to fly a Cub and can

identify very much with your senti-

ments. The part that really brought

back memories was your mention

of the rising “clatter” as you pushed

the throttle forward and accelerated

down the runway. Exactly! It sounded

like a farm tractor shifting into high

gear; each cylinder was heard quite

clearly. What a blast!You are indeed correct regarding

the origin of the “J-series” name for

the Cub line of aircraft. In 1986, I was

privileged to eat dinner with Walter

Jamouneau and Bill Piper Jr. This din-

ner was held at the lightly attended

trial run of the very first Sentimental

Journey Fly-in at Lock Haven, Penn-

sylvania, in the summer of 1986 (the

fly-in officially kicked off in 1987). My

wife, Margie, and I attended the fly-in

banquet one evening with about 20

other people in the back room of a

small local restaurant, and we got to

sistent legend. Walter’s assertion was

backed up by Bill Piper Jr., who was

sitting at the table as well.

Walter was very humble about his

work on the J-series, and I actually be-

lieve he would have refused the honor

if it had been offered to him. Bill and

Walter were very pleasant and gracious.

Both these men are gone now, but

even today I am thrilled that we got to

meet both these aviation legends.

I last flew a Cub in 1987 and then

flew our family Tri-Pacer hundreds of

hours until it was mothballed a few

years ago (needs cover and overhaul).

Hopefully I will get it flying againsometime. The J-3’s owners, a hus-

band and wife team, rebuilt their Cub

and have since flown it from Georgia

to Alaska and back and later wrote a

book about the journey. Happy flying!

Sincerely,

John A. Ritchie Jr.

Duluth, Georgia

The Vintage InstructorDear Steve,

Re: “Do You Know What You Don’t

Know?”

I look forward to reading your

instructing, and keep on writing for

Vintage Airplane!

Just for the LOVE of flight,

I remain,

Mr. Robert F. Zilinsky

Willowbrook, Illinois

Steve responds:

Dear Bob,

I received your note today and want

to thank you for your kind comments. I

thoroughly enjoy teaching people to fly in

a J-3 Cub. There is nothing more satisfy-

ing to me than stepping out of the cockpit and telling a student to do three solo

takeoffs and landings.

And the second most satisfying mo-

ment is shaking hands the day they pass

their checkride.

I have been flying since 1969 and

teaching flying since 1973. Until 2008

I had been teaching tailwheel check-

outs nights and weekends while work-

ing full time. But I chose to take an early

retirement and open a flight school us-

ing Cubs in the spring of 2008. In the

past four years I’ve had the pleasure of

flying with nearly 300 people, many of

them “seasoned citizens” who once flew

but left aviation to raise families. Now

they’re ready to return to the love of fly-ing. Many of them are in their late 60s or

70s. I had one student that, at the age of80, earned a sport pilot certificate.

You mentioned in your note that you

have a J-3 Cub. Have you given thought

to participating in the 75th anniversary

of the J-3 and flying to Oshkosh? Our

plan is to have the Cubs meet at Hart-

ford, Wisconsin, and then fly in trail to

Oshkosh on Sunday, July 22. It would

be an honor to have you be a part of this

one-time event.

Thanks again for writing and shar-

ing your thoughts. It makes the effort

AEROMAIL

Send your comments and questions to:VAA, Letters to the Editor

P.O. Box 3086Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086

Or you can e-mail them to: [email protected]


7/44


8/44

Cubs 2 Oshkosh

Plans are shaping up to make

this year’s celebration of the 75th

anniversary of the Piper J-3 Cub

one of the most exciting events

in the Vintage area in many

years. We’ll have much more on

the program in the July issue. If

you’re even thinking about com-

ing to Oshkosh, please visit the

official Cubs 2 Oshkosh website

at www.Cubs2Osh.EAAchapter.org .

VAA Picnic and Cubs 2 Oshkosh

Dinner

A combined event with twodinner seatings will cap off the

celebration of the Piper Cub’s

75th anniversary as we combine

that celebration’s dinner with the

VAA Picnic dinner held in the

EAA Nature Center the evening

of Wednesday, July 25. Tickets go

fast once the convention begins,

so be sure to purchase your tick-

ets right away when you arrive

on the convention site. Jeannie

Hill will be available during the

pre-convention celebration in

Hartford, Wisconsin, so that Cub

VAA NEWS

VAA Director Jack CopelandLongtime VAA Director John

“Jack” Copeland passed away at the

age of 81 on Wednesday, May 16,

2012.

Jack, who joined EAA in 1971,has been a volunteer with the VAA

(then the Antique/Classic Divi-

sion) dating back to 1975, about

the same time he bought his first

airplane, a Cessna 140. He served

the membership as classic parking

co-chairman, manpower chair, and,

for more than two decades, the en-

thusiastic chairman of the partici-

pant plaques. Appointed an advi-

sor in 1979, he’s been a director of

the division since 1984. Jack was

one of the faces familiar to count-

less members as he headed up the

Jack served in the U.S. Air Force

as an aircraft maintenance officer

on active duty from 1955-58 and

later attained the rank of captain in

the USAF Reserve.

Our condolences to his many

friends, and to his wife, Jean, their

son Jeff and daughters Jerri and Jeannie, as well as their families,

and to Jack’s brother, William.

Jack’s services were held Mon-

day, May 20, at the Pine Grove

Cemetery in Westborough, Massa-

chusetts. In lieu of flowers, the fam-

ily asked that donations be made

to the Vintage Aircraft Association,

P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903.

AirVenture 2012With just more than a month to

go before the summertime celebra-

tion of flight that is EAA AirVenture

Oshkosh, we have a few items we’d

like to share with you as you pre-

pare to make your journey to Wit-

tman Field. We’ll have more in the

July issue of Vintage Airplane.

Type Club InformationType club representatives who

Jack Copeland


9/44

will take place in the Vintage Hangar,

just south of the VAA Red Barn. The

ceremony, which will take place af-

ter the daily air show, starting at 6:00

p.m. on Saturday, promises to be a

great evening for winners and attend-ees alike. After the ceremony, we’ll

host a reception for all attendees and

the winners in the Vintage Hangar

with soft drinks and snacks. Plan on

being there to cheer on your friends

and enjoy some vintage camaraderie

before we all head home the next day.

VAA Judging CategoriesBut for those of you who are not

yet VAA members and are plan-

ning on bringing an airplane to

be judged during EAA AirVenture,

you’re strongly encouraged to join

the division. Why? VAA volunteers

spend hundreds of hours parking

aircraft, judging them, and mak-

ing the VAA area the best it can be.

VAA also covers the majority of the

cost of the actual awards, so we’d

appreciate it if you’d show your

support for the volunteers’ efforts

and VAA by becoming a VAA mem-

ber. So it’s one less thing to deal

with upon your arrival, give us acall at 800-843-3612 or join online

at www.VintageAircraft.org . Dues

are only $42 per year if you’re al-

ready an EAA member!

Each year we receive inquires re-

garding the effective years for VAA’s

judging categories. Here they are:

Antique

An aircraft constructed by the

original manufacturer, or its licensee,

on or before August 31, 1945, with

the exception of certain pre-World

War II aircraft models that had only a

small postwar production. Examples:

Required Equipment:EAA AirVenture NOTAM

I f y o u ’ r e

planning to fly

in to Oshkosh

next month,it’s imperative

that you obtain

a copy of the

FAA’s 2012 Air-

Venture Notice

to Airmen (NO-

TAM), which

contains arrivaland departure procedures for the 60th

annual fly-in convention. These pro-

cedures are in effect from Friday, July

20, through Monday, July 30. (The

event is July 23-July 29.)

While the overall procedures are

similar to past years, you should al-

ways review each year’s NOTAM and

be familiar with the procedures so

you don’t have to fumble around in

the cockpit as you head down the

railroad tracks from Fisk! You can

download a PDF version at www.

AirVenture.org/flying/2012_NOTAM.

pdf , or call EAA Membership Ser-

vices at 800-564-6322 and a printed

booklet will be mailed to you, free ofcharge. (You can also order a booklet

on the website noted above.)

Don’t Forget Your EAA PassportThis Summer

The EAA Museum Passport Pro-

gram, in partnership with the Associa-

tion of Science-Technology Museums

(ASTC), was launched a couple of years

ago. This member benefit provides free

admission to more than 300 partici-

pating museums around the world.

To use this benefit, you need to

display the ASTC logo on the back

i

i

t

t

BOOK OF

INTEREST

Dr. William Lloyd Stearman, the

son of famed aviation pioneer Lloyd

C. Stearman, has recently published a

memoir that should garner the atten-

tion of anyone who has any interestwhatever in early aviation, WWII in

the Pacific as a naval officer, life in the

diplomatic service in Europe during

the Cold War, the Vietnam War, and

the workings of the White House Na-

tional Security Council staff. This book,

entitled An American Adventure: From

Early Aviation Through Three Wars to the

White House, is published by the Naval

Institute Press and is available on Ama-

zon as well as other book sources.

Of particular interest to Stearman

enthusiasts are his recollections of

the lives and history of various mem-

bers of the Stearman family, of their

interactions, and of the many of

aviation’s famous personalities thathe encountered as a young boy at

his home, as well as at the Stearman

factory. He also describes how the

Lockheed Aircraft Corporation (now

Lockheed Martin) came into being.

His father was its first president.

This volume displays his keen in-

sight into life from the 1920s to the

present, and his opinions and per-

spective on world affairs and leaders

is very insightful and persuasive. It

is one which should join the list of

required history reading. His elegant

prose and writing style makes for a

An American Adventure: From Early Aviation Through Three Wars

to the White House

by Dr. William Lloyd Stearman


10/44

T-CraftTale With aTwist


11/44


12/44

The ’39 T-craft came out of a

friendship Mike had formed with

one of his LSA students who hada similar taste in airplanes, Pete

Van Spronsen.

Mike says, “Pete learned to fly

with me a couple of years ago, get-

ting his sport pilot license [certifi-

cate] at age 53. Then he went on

to get his private. He and I became

partners in a 1940 BC-65 proj-ect and are still doing a complete

restoration on it. Pete is also the

president of our local EAA Chap-

ter 1178, and it was his idea to get

a flying T-craft so we could have

something to look at and fly while

we restore the ’40.”

When restoring an aircraft, it al-ways helps to have a “pattern” air-

plane as a source of information.

Mike says, “Pete found a ’39 T-craft

on Barnstormer and went up to see

it just before AirVenture 2011. I re-

member how excited he was when

he called to tell me what he found

in a makeshift hangar on a small

private strip south of Minneapo-

lis. After delivering my Breezer LSA

to be on display at EAA AirVenture

2011, I went to pick up the ’39 and

brought it to Oshkosh. My third

landing in it was at AirVenture. I

The prewar Taylorcraft’s panelis dominated by the largebackwards-turning tachometerin the center of the instrumentpanel. A nice, lightweight in-terior in the airplane keeps itsperformance sprightly.

Very thin plywood was usedas the headliner in the cabin.A pair of truncated triangularskylights keep the cabin brightwhile adding to the pilot’svisibility out of the aircraftduring turns.

The Lycoming O-145 wasn’t aspopular as the competing Con-tinental A-65. This examplewas found to be in excellentcondition after being pickledfollowing an overhaul in 1975.


13/44

mote and conduct the 1937 Na-

tional Air Races at Cleveland. The

colorful little BL-65 had been re-

stored by Don Hernke of Cannon

Falls, Minnesota.

Don is a longtime airplane guywhose background parallels that of

many of us in sport aviation, with

the Taylorcraft being the latest epi-

sode in his long aviation life.

He says, “As a teen, and into my

early 20s, I used to hang around

an old WWII grass strip in Cannon

Falls and eventually started takingflying lessons. That was in the early

’60s, and I was flying Cessna 140s.

I started working towards my li-

cense [certificate] but had no idea it

would take 20 years to accomplish

that task.”

Don’s tale of the struggle to get

his certificate resonates with most

pilots: He started flying, but build-ing his life, career, and family side-

tracked his flying activities.

“I got into models and eventu-

ally motorcycles,” he says. “But air-

planes were always on my mind,

and eventually I got back to them.”

When he returned to aviation, it

was as a homebuilder.He says, “I’ve always liked work-

ing with my hands. It’s really sat-

isfying to take nothing and make

something out of it, so homebuild-

ing an airplane was a natural thing

to do for me. I started looking

around and ran across a set of Avid

Flyer wings that needed a fuselage

to make them into an airplane. So,

I scratchbuilt the fuselage, doing

all of the work myself. I worked on

that for four or five years, eventu-

ally getting it flying with a Subaru

EA81 in the nose. It flew really well,

of it and had a number of hangars.

I rented one of those and noticed a

pile of parts that looked like a Tay-

lorcraft in one of his other hangars.It turned out that he had taken

what he described as ‘a big box of

parts’ in on trade for one of his ul-

tralights. I asked him if it was for

sale, and at first it wasn’t. Then he

put a price on it. But I thought it

was too high, and I decided to wait

until he came to his senses.”Don continued flying his Avid

Flyer, all the time knowing that his

next airplane was piled up in the

back of one of the hangars he was

continually passing. All he had to

do was talk the owner out of it. Fi-

nally, when he retired in 2000, he

decided to get serious about becom-

ing the Taylorcraft’s new owner.

He says, “I looked it over, and it

appeared to all be there with the

exception of one strut. It was a

bare skeleton, with no cover, so I

could easily see into all the nooks

“it had been sitting in the hangar

for quite a few years, and the price

had slowly worked its way down to

where I thought it should be. So Ibought it. But then I noticed one

peculiarity with the paperwork.

The last entry in the logbook was

in 1966, when it said, ‘Needs com-

plete recover.’ And the title was in

the name of Acme Flight School,

but the bill of sale was signed

by a Mr. Morris Way. There wasno mention of the flight school,

which was the official owner as

far as the FAA was concerned. So,

in theory the guy I was buying

it from didn’t actually own it. In

fact, for something like 40 years,

the airplane had changed hands

repeatedly with a title that the FAA

wouldn’t accept, and they had said

so. This started a whole sequence

of events that, had it not been for

the Internet, probably couldn’t

have been solved: For the airplane

to actually be mine and licensable,


14/44


15/44

then made some phone calls. The

effort paid off because I found his

cousin, who then put me in direct

contact with the last owner. This

was just before Oshkosh 2005, and

it turned out that we were both

going to be there. So, we met at

Oshkosh, he signed a new bill of

sale, the FAA accepted it with no

problem, and for the first time in

nearly half a century the airplane

was finally legal. More important,

I was now its official owner. What

a headache that could have turned

He made certain that everything I

touched was done right every step

of the way; his name was going to

be on the paperwork, and he didn’t

want something biting him, and he

didn’t want me to have problems

in the air. For instance, the wooden

Flottorp prop looked really good

with no cracks in the finish or any-

thing, but he wanted it inspected

and refinished. I found someone

working for a museum who had the

credentials to overhaul such a prop.

I sent it to him, and it came back all

Now owned by Michael Zidziunas of Lakeland, Florida, and Peter Van Spronsen, this 1939 Taylorcraftwas restored by Don Hernke of Cannon Falls, Minnesota.

“The wingstook a lot

k


16/44

was well out on the tip, so I could

splice them. But one was bad enough

that we replaced it completely.

“One thing that made the spar

replacement easier was that some-

time in the far distant past, the

original BL-65 wood ribs had been

A never-ending problem with

lots of vintage projects that have

been shuffled from owner to owner

over the years is that the sheet

metal is generally nothing more

than lumpy sheets that can be used

only as patterns. That was not the

tally different situation than the

sheet metal; it had suffered the way

most instrument panels do over

nearly seven decades.

“It had been pretty chopped up,

which is a shame because the origi-

nal arrangement is classic and re-


17/44

the original instruments and sent

them out for repair, but the over-haul station wouldn’t touch those

with radium dials. So some dials are

slightly larger but still look right.

“I did the interior more like a

boat, I suppose, than an airplane.

You can get by with questionable

brakes on a T-craft because they

land so slowly. In my case, how-

ever, I didn’t have to worry about

that because my brakes had brand-

new linings when I got it, and Iknew it was highly unlikely that I’d

fly it enough to use them up.”

When it came to the engine,

Don knew that even though the

logs said it had been overhauled

and never flown, over a quarter of

a century of just sitting could have

reduced it to a four-cylinder lumpof rust. Making matters much more

risky, O-145 Lycomings don’t have

separate cylinders, which can be re-

placed or repaired one at a time. On

an O-145 Lycoming the cylinders

themselves are integral parts of the

case castings with only the heads

bolted on and removable. So a bad

cylinder means a bad case half. Nota good thing!

“I gave the engine to my me-

chanic and he completely disas-

sembled it, checked everything,

and put it back together: I had as-

sumed that it had no internal rust

or problems, but was nice to know

that for sure.“I covered the airplane using a Ce-

conite envelope for the fuselage and

Poly-Fiber for the wings and tail. The

paint is Poly all the way through,

and yes, I used up a lot of masking

tape and paper shooting it.”

When it comes time to paint an

airplane after a complete rebuild, de-

cisions loom large and difficult. Thepaint is all most people see when they

look at an airplane, so it’s critical we

pick out something we like but at the

same time is unique enough that the

airplane stands out from the crowd

from the 1937 National Air Races in

Chet Peek’s Taylorcraft book. That

book is the bible for Taylorcraft

guys, and I loved that paint scheme.

It’s wild enough to be different, but

it is also easy to prove that it’s trueto the type of aircraft and the pe-

riod. When I finally got it in the air,

I was really pleased with people’s re-

actions to it.”

Don flew the airplane for nearly

five years before it showed up at

AirVenture 2011 with Mike Z and

Pete Van Spronsen.Mike says, “As soon as I saw the

pictures, I was in love! There are so

many Taylorcrafts floating around

that it’s really difficult to come up

with something that looks differ-

ent but at the same time is totally

original. And I liked that about

it. It really fits in with the fun at-

mosphere that surrounds our LSAflight-training operation. And ev-

eryone loves it down there. Actu-

ally, it’s a great conversation piece.

When we had it in the Vintage area

at AirVenture 2011, it was amazing

how many people wanted to talk to

us about the paint scheme. And it’s

an absolute hoot to fly, althoughwe’d like a little more power.

“Fortunately, when Don rebuilt

the airplane he installed all the

stuff that’s required in the C-85 STC

for Taylorcrafts. So, if at some time

in the future we decide we want to

go with an 85-hp Continental, all

of the work is done except for the

actual engine installation itself. Ithas the right fuel tanks, fuel lines,

valves, etc. Everything! So, if we do

it, it’ll be an easy change.

“Peter Van Spronsen and I are

both enjoying the airplane. And


18/44

Like most everyone, I’ve got an

engine covered in many areas with

anti-corrosion compound…namely,

AeroShell W100.

I’ve had a difficult time pinpoint-

ing the exact area of the leak. If I run

it a short time on the ground, theleaks don’t present themselves for dis-

covery. If I fly it around the patch and

land . . . the oil is everywhere, includ-

ing the firewall!

Where, Oh Where Is the Source?

So I went to AutoZone and picked

up its least expensive ultraviolet oil

leak detector kit, which consists ofan ultraviolet penlight, some dye

(careful…you want the oil/hydraulic

fluid leak-detector dye, not the Freon

or fuel dyes), and some yellow-lens

glasses (the better to see the ultravio-

utes at about 1000 rpm and then

pulled the plane back into the han-

gar, closed the doors, and turned off

the hangar lights to make it as dark as

possible. Then, while wearing the yel-

low glasses, I took a look at various ar-

eas of the engine that are always wetwith oil, illuminated only with the

ultraviolet penlight.

“Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!” —Gomer Pyle

I had thought the oil was leaking

from the engine through-bolts, but

the first surprise was the dipstick tube!

See the “without UV lighting versus

with UV lighting” photos.I was also surprised by the studs at

the tappet body covers.

An area of the No. 5 cylinder push-

rod rubbers stayed wet, but the rubbers

looked good, and I thought it would

and tappet body cover/stud with

solvent and electronics cleaner and

then apply Permatex No. 2 into the

crevices, to stop the oil leak. (I’ve suc-

cessfully used this technique on en-

gine through-bolts and cylinder base

nuts.) Let the Permatex dry overnightbefore operating.

Meanwhile . . . for those of you

who want to know the exact source

of oil leaks, you might wish to try one

of the ultraviolet leak detection kits

used and sold by automotive sources.

Even if I don’t actually stop the leaks, I

am reassured that the source of oil was

determined to not be a cracked case orother traumatic problem. I’m just glad

to know where that oil is coming from!

Hope this short article is helpful.

A note regarding the photographs: It

Oil leaks . . . where? Oh, where!BY GEORGE HORN,

CESSNA 170 CLUB PARTS/MAINTENANCE ADVISER

Reprinted with permission from The 170 News, Second Quarter 2011,

the quarterly publication of the International Cessna 170 Association Inc. www.Cessna170.org

Type Club Notes

There’s oil all around, but where is it

coming from? The pushrod tube rubber

seal without ultraviolet lighting.

The pushrod tube rubber seal with

ultraviolet lighting clearly shows the

source of the leak.

Tappet body covers.


19/44

The Hunter

B r o t h e r s

PART 1

A flying

family from

Sparta, IllinoisBY ROBERT H. HAYES

In a photo that appears to


20/44

At a young age they lost their

father. Since the family lived on a

farm, it became necessary for the

boys of the family to assume the

chores of operating the farm. Theynever lost that hard work ethic.

Albert, the eldest son, quit school

after the seventh grade and rode

a horse into Sparta to work at the

Ford garage. After several years, Al-

bert began working at a local coal

mine. In time the family moved

into Sparta, and the other three

boys joined their brother workingas coal miners.

Working as coal miners, the boys

purchased motorcycles for transpor-

tation and pleasure. In their free time

they would entertain the citizens of

port, they saw several biplanes

parked by the Robertson Aircraft

Corporation’s plant. They stopped

and inquired about the planes and

decided that rather than obtainnew motorcycles, they would buy

an airplane and learn to fly it.

Albert, the oldest Hunter brother,

assigned John, the second oldest

brother, to stay at the airfield for a

day and take flying instructions. Al-

bert and his two other brothers re-

turned to Sparta. John did just that,

and after 90 minutes of instruction,he flew the plane to Sparta, navi-

gating by following the roads they

had taken to St. Louis. When John

arrived in Sparta with the plane, he

landed the plane in a pasture across

joined them in Sparta and helped

John, Albert, Walter, and eventu-

ally Kenneth to become accom-

plished pilots. For the next several

weeks, Sparta residents witnessedan almost daily air show as the

Hunter brothers learned to perform

stunts with their plane.

Soon, the brothers bought a sec-

ond plane and sold it to Bud Gur-

ney. During the summer, Gurney

and the Hunter brothers would fly

to towns in southern Illinois and

southeast Missouri, selling peoplean airplane ride for a small fee.

Eventually they purchased a third

plane, started the Hunter Flying

Circus, and gave performances at

area county fairs.

This photo, taken in north suburban Chicago at Sky Harbor Airport, shows adding fuel to the plane Big Ben froma Deep Rock tanker truck. Deep Rock Oil company furnished the fuel for the 1930 endurance flight. Albert and

Walter Hunter flew fuel and supplies to John and Kenneth and the City of Chicago in the airplane Big Ben.


21/44

also gave passengers a seven- to

10-minute ride, charging $3 for

each passenger. They used a field

just south of the local fair grounds

for a landing field. Herbert Budd, a

mechanic working for the HunterFlying Circus, performed the wing-

walking, parachute leaps, and

changing from one plane to an-

other in mid-air stunts. The Hunt-

ers advertised their flying circus

and hoped to get billings at other

fairs in the vicinity.

Bud Gurney was a young man

from Lincoln, Nebraska. He came to

St. Louis and was working for Rob-

ertson Aircraft Corporation Com-

pany. Robertson had hired Charles

A. Lindbergh Jr. as the chief pilot to

fly mail. Lindbergh hired Bud Gur-

ney to rebuild Robertson’s small

fleet of de Havilland DH-4 aircraft.

Lindbergh and Gurney met onApril 9, 1922, when both men sat

side by side in the front cockpit of

a Lincoln Standard Turnabout on

their first airplane ride. Gurney was

working at the Nebraska Aircraft

Corporation factory in Lincoln, Ne-

braska, to pay for his flying lessons.

Lindbergh had paid $500 to RayPage, the president of the Nebraska

Aircraft Corporation, for flying les-

sons. Both Lindbergh and Gurney

became close, lifelong friends.

In addition to performing in the

Hunter Flying Circus, the Hunters

used their airplanes to travel to air

shows, air races, and just barnstorm

around the United States. In Octo-ber 1924, the Hunter brothers flew

to Dayton, Ohio, for the air races.

On the way back to Sparta, Albert

and his passenger, Charles Exiter,

planned to stop at Brookville, In-

In May 1925, the Hunter

Flying Circus put on a big

demonstration at a field, about

five miles north of Chester,

Illinois. As part of that dem-

onstration, Kenneth Hunterperformed his first parachute

leap. Charles Hamilton, a lo-

cal boy from Chester, also

made a parachute leap. As

Hamilton attempted his leap

from the plane piloted by

John Hunter, the parachute

failed to release from the

case, which was attached to

the plane. Hamilton was sus-

pended at the end of a rope,

about eight feet below the

landing gear of the plane.

John Hunter had con-

siderable difficulty keeping

the plane from losing alti-

tude due to the aerodynamic dragof him hanging below the plane.

After about 30 minutes of circling

the field, Hamilton was able to

climb up to the bag and unlace the

mouth of it so the parachute would

release. Hamilton landed safely in

a wheat field about a mile south of

the landing field.After John Hunter landed the

plane, it was discovered that the

bag had almost torn loose from

the plane. Had the bag torn loose,

it would have prevented the para-

chute from opening. When Ham-

ilton returned to the field, he

declared that he was ready to make

another leap. John Hunter, morefrightened that Hamilton during

the episode, responded that he

would not permit another amateur

to drop from his plane.

The Hunter Flying Circus per-

in the grandstand.Beans was able to descend away

from the trees north of the grand-

stand and made a perfect landing

on his feet on top of the grandstand

roof. However, the wind caught his

partially open parachute, pulling

him from the roof to the ground,

40 feet below.Beans landed on his left hand

and side. He remained conscious

for a short time, but lapsed into un-

consciousness. He was carried to

the Red Cross Hospital where he

was examined by Dr. J.K. Gordon.

The prognosis was that he was suf-

fering from shock, but not seriously

injured. A later examination by Dr.C.O. Boynton revealed a fractured

bone in his left wrist. Beans was

able to sit up the next day and was

unhappy that his doctor would not

permit him to fill an engagement

Bud Gurney


22/44

and Chicago by way of Springfield

and Peoria. The Robertson Aircraft

Corporation hired Lindbergh, 24,

as chief pilot for the mail contract.

Lindbergh recruited a number of pi-

lots to assist in the service. John andWalter Hunter joined the Robertson

Air Mail service. It’s quite possible

their previous association with Bud

Gurney led to their recruitment.

Pilots flying mail had to fly in vi-

sual contact with the ground. They

flew in all weather, good and bad.

Weather reports were not reliable. Of-

ten, journeys started in good weather

would fly on into bad weather and

fog. Radio communication with air-

ports did not exist. The airports were

cow pastures with a windsock.

The Hunters became good friends

with Charles A. Lindbergh Jr. Lind-

bergh visited the Hunters in Sparta

on several occasions. On his firstvisit to Sparta, Lindbergh rode his

motorcycle from St. Louis to Sparta.

He flew to Sparta for later trips.

On October 13, 1927, John and

Kenneth Hunter flew home to

Sparta from Hackensack, New Jersey,

where they had spent the summer

providing passenger rides in theirplane. One of the most pleasant ex-

periences that occurred on that trip

was a flight in which a 19-year-old

boy had his hearing restored.

The boy had become deaf at 8

years of age. John Hunter gave the

lad a ride during which he made a

dive of several thousand feet. Upon

landing, the young man could hear.Several months later, the Hunters

again visited with the young man

and learned that he was still able

to hear. The Hunter Flying Circus

presented a performance to a large

Gurney was flying mail to Mem-

phis, Tennessee, in a Ryan mono-

plane, similar to Lindbergh’s Spirit

of St. Louis. Many people, thinking

it was Lindbergh paying a visit to

the Hunters, rushed to the field. Bythe time they arrived, Gurney had

resumed his trip.

John and Walter Hunter con-

tinued to fly mail on routes out of

St. Louis. John flew the St. Louis–Evansville, Indiana–Chicago route.

Walter continued flying the St.

Louis-to-Chicago route. Beans was

working at an airport in South

Bend, Indiana, as a flight instructor.

Throughout 1929, fliers in Fort

Worth, Texas, Cleveland, Ohio, and

California each surpassed the time

aloft set by their predecessors. In

July 1929, Dale “Red” Jackson and

Forrest “Obie” O’Brine remainedaloft for 420 hours and 21 min-

utes over St. Louis, Missouri, in a

Curtiss Robin monoplane named

St. Louis Robin 1. The Curtiss Rob-

ertson Aeroplane and Motor Com-

pany manufactured the airplane in

St. Louis, Missouri.

In August of 1929, John Hunter

participated in an attempt to break

the record set by Jackson and

O’Brine. John was the pilot of the

refueling plane, Big Ben, which car-

ried gasoline, oil, and supplies to

the endurance plane.

Starting at 6:52 a.m. on Septem-

ber 30, 1929, John and Kenneth

Hunter, piloting the enduranceplane, attempted to surpass the

Jackson–O’Brine endurance record.

They remained in the air 11 days

but had to discontinue their flight

when a heavy fog made it impos-

sible to refuel the endurance plane.

The endurance plane was a Stinson

SM-1 Detroiter named Chicago We-Will, owned by the Chicago We-

Will Corporation.

In early June 1930, John Hunter

purchased the Stinson SM-1 Detroi-

ter airplane and renamed it City of

Chicago. On June 11, John and Ken-

neth Hunter quietly took off from

Sky Harbor Airport at Northbrook,

Illinois, and began their record-setting endurance flight.

An article in the Chicago Daily

News on June 13 was the first men-

tion of the attempted endurance

flight. The support of the flight was

One of the

most pleasant

experiences

that occurred

on that trip

was a flight

in which a

19-year-old boy

had his hearing

restored.


23/44

ery six hours. After more than a

week, refueling contacts were in-

creased to every three hours due to

a leak in one of the fuel tanks in

the endurance plane, City of Chi-

cago. At each contact with City ofChicago, Bi g Ben provided gaso-

line, oil, food, and clean clothes to

John and Kenneth. Their mother

and sister Irene did their laundry

and prepared their meals. John

and Kenneth took turns flying City

of Chicago and sleeping. On occa-

sions, Kenneth would leave the

cabin and scoot along a catwalk to

the engine in the nose of the plane,

where he would change spark plugs

and tighten bolts on the engine.

Communication between City of

Chicago and support on the airfield

was by exchanging notes. One note

from John and Kenneth to their

sister, Irene, complained the foodthey were receiving was not “he-

man enough.” The note continued:

“Give us more hot dogs and hard

boiled eggs, and less of the fancy

fixed duck and chicken.”

As the endurance flight continued

toward the record set by Dale Jack-

son and Forrest O’Brine, the flight ofCity of Chicago began attracting more

and more attention. Daily articles in

the Chicago newspapers caused large

crowds to visit Sky Harbor Airport

to witness the event. Many citizens

from Sparta made the long trip north

to Sky Harbor Airport to cheer the

Hunter brothers on. Will Rogers rode

along with Albert and Walter on Big Ben during a refueling contact with

City of Chicago.

On Sunday, June 29, 1930, City

of Chicago passed the O’Brine–

Jackson endurance record; John

On July 4, 1930, brothers John

and Kenneth Hunter landed City of

Chicago after having been airborne

for 553 hours, 41 minutes, and 30

seconds, establishing a new flight

endurance record. John and Kenneth had been ex-

periencing difficulty all day. In late

afternoon, an oil screen in the mo-

tor clogged. As oil was poured into

the motor, it was forced out into the

faces of John and Kenneth. The mo-

tor began to overheat due to the lack

of oil. John and Kenneth decided

to land the plane before the motor

failed. As City of Chicago touched

down and taxied down the runway,

the crowd rushed toward the plane.

John, recall ing Lindbergh’s ex-

perience in Paris, taxied the plane

around the crowd and into the

hangar. Inside the hangar at Sky

Harbor Airport, John and Kennethwere rushed to the microphones of

the national radio networks. They

reported that they were tired but

could have stayed in the air for sev-

eral more days had the oil screen in

the motor not become plugged.

Following the radio broadcast,

the Hunter family, including allfour brothers, their mother, and sis-

ter Irene were taken by a long auto-

mobile procession to the House on

the Roof at the Hotel Sherman in

Chicago. There they were guests of

the hotel management.

After arriving at the House on the

Roof, John and Kenneth enjoyed

their first bath in more than threeweeks. After bathing, they were re-

quired by their manager to sit at a

table and listen to long talks. When

the talks were completed, John and

Kenneth were finally permitted to

Sparta, the Hunter brothers, and

the endurance flight.

Many news accounts reported

that Albert was the only member

of the family who was married.

This was quite possibly amusing to John Hunter, who on May 7, 1929,

was married to Laura McCarey of

Sparta by a justice of the peace in

St. Charles, Missouri. Laura was

teaching school and chose to keep

her marriage a secret. In the spring

of 1930, John was flying mail and

planning an endurance flight.

Laura thought that announcing

their wedding then would attract

attention to her while John was a

national celebrity.

In the week following the endur-

ance flight, the Hunter family was

honored as guests at a number of

banquets in Chicago. The banquets

were hosted by Will Rogers, CharlesS. “Casey” Jones, an executive of

Curtiss-Wright, and members of

the Chicago Board of Trade. Their

sister Mabel was the only family

member not present during the en-

durance flight and subsequent fes-

tivities. Mabel was in a hospital,

suffering from tuberculosis.During that week, the Hunter

family appeared three times a day

on stage at the Chicago Palace The-

ater. After that week, the Hunter

brothers abandoned the stage to

work on their planes. The City of

Chicago had a new 300-hp Wright

J-6 engine, donated by the Curtiss-

Wright Corporation, installed to re-place the original 220-hp Wright

Whirlwind J-5 engine.

The Wright Whirlwind J-5 en-

gine was the same type of engine

that Lindbergh chose for his New


24/44

When I first started flying I had no idea of the

plethora of different aircraft I would come in

contact with. Having a hangar beside an air-

craft builder/restorer has been quite an edu-

cation—and an interesting one at that.

In 1911 Eugene Ely flew a Curtiss Pusher onto and from

a ship in San Francisco, California. That was the beginningof U.S. naval aviation, although the process to fully incor-

porate aircraft took some doing.

Fast-forward 100 years to a small airport in New Market,

Virginia, and a man named Bob Coolbaugh. In honor of

the Navy centennial he, a former Navy aviator, and sev-

eral airplane cohorts built a replica of the Curtiss Model

D that Mr. Ely flew. Their intention was to participate in a

number of centennial shows with the Navy and introduce

people to some little known aviation history. (See the May2011 issue of Vintage Airplane.) Watching for three years as

the overgrown ultralight-looking contraption took shape,

I could not help but look at the “sticks and wires” and

think, “You’re going to do what ?!”

Since Bob and his wife are more like family than neigh-

Many a conversation

was started by those coveralls with the

name emblazoned on the back. Nobody whistles at cover-

alls, but many opportunities were provided to share about

the airplane—which was as it should be.

My job while crewing consisted of manning the sup-port tent, folding oodles of T-shirts, helping move the

airplane, and of course, talking to lots of people. Being

the babe (in the aviation experience sense) of the group,

I was a bit hesitant to take a place beside the airplane to

talk about it. I needn’t have worried. While I couldn’t re-

late the actual flying experience of it, I could answer most

folks’ questions and share their amazement. Any positive

connection was worthwhile.

The rest of the crew graciously shared their space and re-sponsibilities with me. We laughed, sweated, and occasion-

ally grumbled together. We ate too much “show” food and

went to bed tired just to get up and do it again the next day.

Crazy, yes probably, but for some of us it was a once-in-a-

lifetime experience to share that kind of aviation history.

Nobody Whistles at CoverallsAdventures with the Curtiss crew

BY S. MICHELLE SOUDER

H.G.FRAUTSCHY

S. MIC HE LLE SOUDE R


25/44

In the years following World War

II, it was easy to find service-

able 65-hp lightplane engines

at attractive prices. These pow-

erplants, so important to the popu-

and they’re increasingly expensive to

recondition thoroughly. At the same

time, engines of more recent manu-

facture tend to be of higher power,

and this has led to the development

now active in sport aviation literally

grew up with them and know them

well. Younger enthusiasts are thus of-

ten surprised, amazed, and puzzled

when they encounter strange old

Light Plane Heritage

published in EAA Experimenter January 1994

EXPLORING EARLY ROTARY ENGINESBY BOB WHITTIER

EAA 1235

This amazing model of a Gnome rotary engine was on display at the Hays engine tent at Oshkoshyears ago. Younger EAA folks who have never heard of rotary engines are often amazed the first timethey see one running. The Turkish towel draped behind this model was to catch oily exhaust.


26/44

ent-day experimental work.

Therefore, this and articles to ap-

understandable that some aeronauti-

cal pioneers tried to adapt these en-

fore light supply of fuel was adequate.

For the most part, early gasoline

engines created for use in cars and

boats were too heavy for their power

output to be suitable for aircraft use.

One writer described attempts to

fly under their power as being like

“trying to imitate the kangaroo.”

To achieve usefully low weight, the

Wright brothers built their own en-

gines around a cast aluminum crank-

case. It delivered 12 hp and weighed

179 pounds. We have to remember

that their flights of December 17,

1903, were made with an appreciablehead wind.

A very early European aero en-

gine was the Anzani, made by a firm

having a motorcycle background. To

make his 21-mile English Channel

Left, cutaway of pre-1913 Gnome rotary. Note inlet valve in piston head. Magneto and oil pumpmounted on anchorage plate did not rotate. A brush-and-ring arrangement which sent current toplugs had to be kept clean. Because heat and oil deteriorated rubber insulation, bare wires that

carried current to plugs often broke. Top right, enlarged view of intake valve. From 1913 onward,“Monosoupape” Gnomes used the less troublesome inlet system shown at lower right.

Left, the reason for using an odd number of cylinders on rotaryengines was to achieve a smooth running firing order. Right,counterweight on valve ends of rocker arms overbalanced ten-dency of centrifugal force on rods to hold valves open.


27/44

were named after the daughter of one

of the firm’s principals.

A vast step forward for aviation

took place in 1908 with the intro-

duction of the Gnome engine which

weighed 165 pounds and delivered 50hp. In French folklore, a gnome is a

sturdy little worker, hence the name.

At the Rheims air meet in August of

1909, pioneer fliers such as Henri

Farman and Louis Paulhan surprised

the aviation world by demonstrating

how very ably this new combination

of power and lightness could fly big,

box kite-style biplanes.

The Gnome was a “rotary” engine,

and we should point out that it was

nothing at all like the much later

Wankel having an internal rotor. One

way of making a lightweight engine is

to start with a single-throw and there-

fore very short crankshaft, fit it into a

ringlike and similarly short and lightcrankcase, and arrange several cyl-

inders radiating out from the crank-

case in a starlike fashion. The Gnome

crankshaft and case were substantially

lighter than the longer equivalent

components of engines having four

or six cylinders in a row.

The rear portion of the crankshaft

was made quite long so that it could

be affixed to suitable brackets or bulk-

heads built into an aircraft’s fuselage.

Of course, it projected appreciably

from the back side of the crankcase.

Downward pressure on piston heads

pushing against connecting rods cre-

ated side-pressure on the cylinder

walls, which thus made the crankcaseand cylinder assembly revolve swiftly

while the crankshaft remained mo-

tionless. Clamp the projecting crank-

shaft end of a junked lawn mower

motor into a vise, rotate the rest of

brothers Laurent and Louis Seguin

of Paris belonged to a family which

had long experience building lo-

comotives and heavy machinery.

They had experience with and the

machinery for working in steel. Acrankcase machined from a solid bil-

let of forged steel would be easier for

them to produce than one of cast

aluminum, which at that time was

a relatively new and unfamiliar ma-

terial. Similarly, for air-cooled cyl-

inders it would for them be quite

routine to put billets of steel into a

lathe and turn the cooling fins.

But a problem! Because of the

shapes necessary it would be hard

to produce cylinder head fins with

a lathe. Some combination of fussy

drilling, broaching, and planning

work would be necessary. Even then,

the resulting fins might be too lacking

in number and area to dissipate com-bustion chamber heat.

Thus they hit upon the rotary idea.

Cylinder heads located at the outer

edge of a revolving engine would

travel through the air at considerable

velocity and thus cool as well as possi-

ble, considering their skimpy finning.

The Sequins did not invent the rotary

engine; they adapted the idea to aero

engine use. A mopedlike, two-wheel

vehicle built late in the 19th century

had a five-cylinder rotary engine built

into its rear wheel. A few early auto-

mobiles also had rotaries. For Gnome

engines, solid steel billets weighing

67 pounds were machined into cylin-

ders weighing about 8 pounds. Wallthickness was only 1.5 millimeters,

or about 1/16 of an inch. Steel parts

for the later Le Rhone rotary engines

were machined down to 184 pounds

from billets totaling 1,160 pounds.

War I in 1914 caused governments to

swamp rotary makers with orders sim-

ply because these quirky engines were

available and the need was urgent.

Well-known French makes were

the Gnome, Le Rhone, and Clerget.The British built some of these under

license and developed their own 230-

hp Bentley, the most powerful rotary

to be built. Gnomes had been built

under license in Germany prior to the

war, and modified versions continued

to be made there under the Oberursel

name. There were numerous less-well-

known makes.

Details of rotary engines were often

outlandish by today’s standards. But

we should not laugh at them, for they

exhibited a degree of designing imagi-

nation not often seen today.

Carburetors as we know them, for

example, were not used. It would

have been practically impossible tocontrive one that would work while

whirling around at 1200 rpm. Besides,

air and fuel were thoroughly mixed

and vaporized as they sped past crank-

shaft cheeks and connecting rods in-

side crankcases.

Very crude air and fuel metering

valves and jets were mounted at the

rear ends of hollow crankshafts. De-

tails varied from make to make, but

in general pilots had to be skilled at

manipulating air and fuel controls to

keep their engines running.

Also, it would have been impos-

sible to keep a supply of recirculat-

ing oil within a whirling crankcase.

Oil was thus pumped into the hol-low crankshafts, and airflow swept it

along into crankcases. Because main

bearings were of the ball bearing type,

pressure lubrication was not needed.

Oil mist served them adequately, just


28/44

coatings to build up on hot surfaces.

And this combined with quite light

construction gave early rotaries 10 or

20 hours of flying between overhauls.The best of them produced late in

the war could be run for perhaps 50

hours. Because of limited supplies of

castor oil, the Germans made less use

of rotaries than did the Allies.

Incoming castor oil lubricated

briefly, and then airflow and cen-

trifugal force carried it into the fir-

ing chambers. Some of it burned and

created a smoky exhaust. That which

didn’t burn flew out with the exhaust.

Many early rotary-engined planes

were of the pusher type so that only

the tail surfaces would be coated with

the resulting film. Castor oil gave ex-

haust fumes a pungent, penetrating

odor suggestive of ether or automo-tive starting fluid.

When tractor-type engine instal-

lations came into favor, it quickly

became apparent that sheet metal

shields would be needed to keep the

ble to fit exhaust manifolds. Even if

one were contrived, it would still exit

the exhaust in pinwheel fashion. Ex-

haust flame exiting from rotaries weresomething to see at night. It is said

that pilots wore long, flowing scarves

not to appear dashing but to have

ready at hand goggle-wiping cloths

that would not blow overboard.

One old book states that 85 pounds

of centrifugal force acted on the fairly

small valves of a Le Rhone. Because

centrifugal force pulled outward on

pushrods with such force, overriding

counterweights were built into the

valve ends of rocker arms. Because of

low compression ratios and running

speeds, words such as “thundering”

wouldn’t apply to the sound emitted

by a rotary. Various writers have de-

scribed it as being a moderately loudbut pleasant hum, a soft but strong

buzz, or a low growl.

Early Gnomes had inlet valves

built into the piston heads. They

opened and closed by pressure differ-

drilled around the lower ends of cylin-

der walls. Shortly before reaching bot-

tom dead center, pistons uncovered

them and the fuel/air mixture flowedinto combustion chambers, as in a

two-cycle engine. It took practice to

learn to run a Monosoupape. Because

they had doubts about the legitimacy

of these strange engines, English-

speaking pilots took to pronouncing

the name as “Minus-a-pops.”

Le Rhones used intake and ex-

haust valves mounted in the cylin-

der heads. Copper intake pipes ran

from the crankcase to each cylinder

head, and centrifugal force helped

the mixture get out to the heads.

The single rocker arms were double-

acting. Single pushrods operated by

complicated cams alternately pushed

up and pulled down on these rods.The tortuous and restricted intake

route of the Gnomes caused them

to burn about 10 gallons of gas and

2 gallons of oil per hour for an out-

put of 80 to 110 hp. Le Rhones used

Left, piston side-pressure on cylinder walls made theengines revolve. Big ends of connecting rods hadcrutchlike, curved pads that ran in grooves in main bearing. Center,80-hp Le Rhone engine. Right, a double-acting rocker arm actu-ated by a push-pull rod operated both valves. Cams were complex.


29/44

vise jaws, install the piston, and then

slide the cylinder up and down on

the piston to visualize this action. But

in the air, rotaries also experiencedpronounced gyroscopic effects. Find

the front wheel of a bicycle and a

wooden shaft. Drill the end of the

shaft so you can force-thread it onto

one end of the wheel’s axle. Hold

the wheel at right angles in front of

you and get it to spinning. Then ex-

perience for yourself the gyroscopic

forces with which rotary pilots had

to cope. In a steep right turn, the pi-

lot of a nimble single-seater would

use hard left rudder to keep the nose

from being pulled down into a spiral.

In a steep left turn, he’d apply hard

left rudder to keep the nose from be-

ing pulled skyward.

The German Siemens-Halske thatappeared late in the war is a prime

example of engineering imagination

bordering on the weird. Designed to

produce 160 hp, its creators realized

that a mean amount of gyroscopic

To taxi and to descend for a landing,

a pilot pressed a thumb button on top

of the control stick to short out the

ignition. He’d release it before the en-gine died. This was called “blipping

the engine.” Le Rhones had more so-

phisticated admission devices and

could be slowed down usefully by pi-

lots who were deft with the controls.

Planes powered by Clergets and Bent-

leys had a set of switches by means

of which these nine-cylinder engines

could be run on seven, five, or three

cylinders. This meant that unburned

fuel and combustion flames exited

into the cowlings at the same time.

Apparently only the steady rush of air

into and out of the cowlings kept the

planes from being torched.

An assortment of factors brought

on the end of rotaries. They were in-herently quirky and messy, never

very safe, and expensive to operate

and maintain. The gyroscopic effects

killed many pilots, both students

and experienced. Fuel consump-

cent military experience used rotaries

for a few years after the war simply

because they could be bought so very

cheaply from war surplus outlets. Butgasoline was so expensive there that

the high fuel consumption of rotaries

soon led to their being retired.

In the United States, some Le

Rhone rotaries had been manufac-

tured in 1917 to 1918 for use in mili-

tary training and scout airplanes such

as the Thomas Morse. In the early

postwar years one company man-

aged to convert surplus Le Rhones

into fixed radial engines. But the sta-

tionary V-8 Curtiss OX-5 engine was

much more plentiful here, and while

it had its faults, it didn’t have the

nasty vices of the rotaries. And it, too,

was cheap. So it became “the” engine

for private and modest commercialflying in the 1920s.

It thus had the effect of discour-

aging the development of lower-

powered aircraft engines here. But

from the early 1920s onward, the

Left, pilots had to learn how to operate Gnome fuel and oil supply systems. Because oil was usedbriefly and then expelled in exhaust, a large supply had to be carried. In crashes, systems employ-ing air pressure often sprayed gasoline and aggravated the fire hazard. Right, because the volumesof heat generated in larger cylinders would have overtaxed marginal cooling systems, Gnome re-sorted to using standard cylinders to build up this 14-cylinder, 160-hp, double-row rotary engine.

THE V t ge


30/44

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

Truss-type fuselage structures

THE VintageMechanic

The primary fore and aft load-carrying members are

called longerons. Illustration 1 shows both Pratt and

Warren type structures. The Pratt truss can be identi-

fied by longeron cross-bracing being placed at 90

degrees to one another, with either wire or tube brac-

ing for rigidity. The Warren type structure has cross-bracing at varying angles to the longeron.

Examples of truss-type frames are shown above right

in Illustration 2.

As is the case of most early aircraft designs, there

were no maintenance or overhaul manuals written by

the factory. On occasion the factory would produce a

sketch detailing repairs to primary structural compo-

nents. Such is the case with New Standard Aircraft Cor-

poration of Paterson, New Jersey, and its model D-25.The factory provided a detail drawing of how to splice

aluminum angle longerons, which could be adapted to

other angular components.

Perhaps the oldest aircraft structure is the truss-type fuselage, which dates back to the Wright brothers. Over the years truss

fuselages have been manufactured from wood, aluminum, and steel. The truss-type fuselage st ructures evolved into two basic

types—the Warren truss and the Pratt truss. Illustration 1 shows a wire-braced, truss-type fuselage.

Illustration 1 Illustration 2


31/44

Illustration 4 shows a 1929 Command-Aire 5C3,

NC998E, the factory entry into the Guggenheim Safe

Flight Contest, 1927 to 1929. This photo was taken at

Mitchell Field, Long Island, New York, at the start of the

contest in October 1929. NC998E eventually became a

crop duster in Fort Pierce, Florida, and has miraculously

survived throughout the years. It is in the author’s pos-

session and will be used in this column to describe re-pairs to a steel tube truss-type fuselage frame.

Scan this QR code with your smartphone

or tablet device to view our complete line

TOLL FREE: TEL: FAX:

SALES: WEB:

CONTACT US TODAY!

Illustration 4

Saving an Original Truss Fuselage Frame

Illustration 5 shows NC998E, modified to crop dust-

ing, displaying major damage to the forward section

and internally rusted lower longerons necessitating

entire replacement, both left and right. Before starting

the repairs a mechanic must make a determination as

Illustration 5


32/44

Illustration 8 shows some of the damage detected

in the Command-Aire frame. If detail and assem-

bly drawings can be secured from the FAA or other

sources, then dimensions will be available, along

with tubing diameter and wall thickness. If there

are no drawings (as is the case with the Command-Aire), then it will be necessary to make detailed

sketches of the fuselage structure complete with

accurate dimensions as the frame will have to be

cut apart to make necessary repairs. A background

in mechanical drawing comes in very handy in

One will be amazed how easy and quick this step

takes. Just invert the frame and tap all the tubes, longe-rons, cross and diagonal tubes, etc. In the case of this

Command-Aire, the lower longerons are rusted inter-

nally to a point that they are unairworthy. In fact there

are a few holes that emanate from the inside of the

tube all the way through the wall thickness. When this

step is completed and the frame found to be airworthy

by using the tap-test, a more thorough inspection may

be needed in certain critical areas.

Tap-testing a modern-day advanced composite struc-

ture is practiced by gently tapping the structure with a

dense metal object (usually a coin made from a section

of brass bar stock) and listening for a metallic ring or

a solid sound (Illustration 6). If the structure has de-

laminated, the sound will be dull or dead. You can do

the same thing with steel tube; just tap the structure

and listen for a metallic ring. Take a new piece of tub-ing and support both ends, then tap and listen to the

sound. Practice this, then move to the structure and

begin tapping on the bottom or lower portion of the

tubes. If internal rust has eaten away the wall of the

tube, the sound will change to a dull tone, indicating

that the wall is thin. Do the entire frame, making notes

on a sketch or marking with masking tape if you find

tubing suspected of internal rust.

Illustration 7

Illustration 6


33/44

Saving a rare old aircraft is a passion, and one I

wish to share with any who are interested. There

will be more on this restoration in future articles.

When designing and conducting repairs to any

primary structure, alignment of the hard points

are very critical. The fuselage frame sets the geom-etry of the landing gear, engine thrust line, lower

wing angle of incidence, cabane strut location,

horizontal and vertical stabilizer location, and tail

wheel mount point. When an airframe is damaged

from an accident, many of these points can be af-

fected, so close examination must be completed

before a decision is made to either repair or replace

the frame. The upper longerons are straight, so the

top of the fuselage is flat. If one laterally levels the

upper cross tube at station 1 and then checks the

level at the aft cross tube, any twist in the frame

will be evident.

Once a decision is made to repair the frame,

detailed sketches of the structure must be created

in order to place the structure back to its original

dimensions. I have a background in mechanical

drawing, so with drawing board, tee square, tri-angle, and scale, suitable sketches can be made of

the structure complete with dimensions. Back in

1982 a search of FAA files and the Federal Records

Storage Center turned up no ATC drawings. One

FAA official suggested that the original drawings

What Our Members Are RestoringAre you nearing completion of a restoration? Or is it done and you’re

busy flying and showing it off? If so we’d like to hear from you Send

Illustration 9

THE Vintage


34/44

How do you fly the traffic pattern, especially if you aregoing to do two or three takeoffs and landings? “Never

much thought about it,” is the reply most often offered

when I’m conducting a flight review. “It sort of comes

natural,” they add.

“Is that why we were about one-quarter mile south

of the runway centerline during the climb-out,” I offer?

“Geez, I never realized I was doing that,” the pilot re-

sponds, “Why are you making such a big deal out of it?”My reply is, “To prevent a midair collision, and so that

you can make a good landing.” “What does my climb-out

have to do with my landing?” Everything! Precision in the

traffic pattern usually leads to a good landing.

Takeoff and Climb-out

NOTE: Assume in the following example that we are expe-

riencing a 45-degree crosswind from right to left at 12-15 mph.

After completing the pretakeoff checklist but before

every takeoff, what do you do? Align the airplane with the

centerline and push the throttle to the stop? Or do you

take a few seconds and think about the takeoff? Do you

ever ask yourself the “What if” questions? What if the en-

gine sputters and quits before liftoff? Just after liftoff? Do

you remember to take a quick peek at the engine gauges as

the power is added? What is the surface wind doing justbefore adding power?

If these questions are answered honestly, most would

agree that the airplane, engine, and pilot inputs are often-

times taken for granted. Maybe we could and should all

pay a bit more attention and run through the “What if”

found yourself adding power, beginning the takeoff roll,and then found that the airplane decided to take you on a

cross-country tour through the tall grass on either side of

the runway? It catches you by surprise as you apply cor-

rective control inputs, but the question comes to mind,

“What was that, and what did I do wrong? The wind was

right down the runway when I last looked (7-10 minutes

ago).” When working with students, I insist that they take

one last look at the windsock before applying power.Beginning with the takeoff roll, the control stick or

yoke should be all the way back in your lap and turned or

pushed near fully to the stop in the direction from which

the wind is coming. A crosswind from the right requires

the stick to be pushed or turned to the right. The right

aileron is deflected to the up position, preventing the right

wing from generating more lift than the left.

With the stick or yoke in the full back or aft position,

the prop blast and the relative wind cause a downward

load on the tail, keeping the steerable tail wheel firmly

planted on the ground as power is applied. Directional

control for the first four of five seconds of the takeoff roll

is maintained by the tail wheel and proper rudder pedal

application. Generally, several soft taps on the right rudder

are needed in a calm or light head wind situation. But in

this particular situation one may need to tap the left rud-

der to offset the crosswind that is attempting to push thetail to the left and the nose to the right.

As groundspeed increases, pressure on the elevator can

be felt in the control stick. At this point, gently move the

stick slightly forward, lifting the tail about a foot off the

ground. A mistake commonly made at this point is raising

BY Steve Krog, CFI

THE VintageInstructor

Wind, takeoff, and traffic patternsPart 1

position, causing the aileron to assume a neutral position turn about 10 degrees early to establish a slight crab angle


35/44

position, causing the aileron to assume a neutral position

as well. Oftentimes a pilot will continue holding aileron

deflection during the liftoff, causing the wing to dip in

the direction of the wind. Simultaneously, some pilots will

then add and hold left rudder causing a slip/skid configu-

ration. Correct this by glancing at the space between thebottom side of each wing and the horizon line. In a low-

wing airplane, look at and balance the space between the

top of the wing and the horizon. Level the wings and take

your foot off the left rudder pedal.

Once airborne, even in a light crosswind, I like to

climb to about 15-20 feet, then level off and neutralize

the rudder and ailerons if you’re still holding the wind-

ward wing down. Depending on the crosswind velocity,

the airplane will “weather vane,” basically establishing itsown crab angle. When the crab angle stabilizes, resume

the normal climb-out attitude while maintaining the

crab angle. Don’t forget to apply light but constant right

rudder during the climb to offset torque and P-factor.

This will allow you to climb on a straight line off the end

of the runway. Continue the climb until reaching at least

500 feet above ground level (AGL), and then lower the

nose to a level attitude.Depending upon the level of activity in the flight pat-

tern and airport traffic area, you may want to vary your

climb attitude and airspeed for safety. Traffic volume may

dictate a more gradual climb angle so that you can more

easily see over and around the nose and spot any potential

traffic conflicts.

A designated pilot examiner (DPE) friend, for whom I

have a great deal of respect, recommends making gradual

S-turns passing left and right through the imaginary ex-

tended centerline during the climb. This will allow seeing

whatever is in front of the airplane (i.e., to better see other

traffic). This is an especially good practice when flying an

airplane like the J-3 Cub, as the nose blocks all forward vis-

ibility when in a normal 60-mph climb attitude.

Just because your airplane will climb out in a steep at-

titude, there is no need to demonstrate this feature when

departing a fly-in. Wait until you are clear of the airporttraffic area, then play. It may someday save a near miss or

even worse.

Head wind or Tail wind on Crosswind LegAfter lowering the nose and clearing the area for

turn about 10 degrees early to establish a slight crab angle

to the right, offsetting the wind’s push. The increased

groundspeed will necessitate initiating the turn to down-

wind a bit more quickly than you may have anticipated.

The crosswind leg of the traffic pattern is the leg that is

most often abused by students and certificated pilots alike,based on my experience. Frequently, neither the wind

direction nor the velocity is taken into account. In turn, a

sloppy crosswind leg leads to an equally sloppy downwind

leg, which then leads to a bad base leg.

I’ve mentioned this before, but I’ll state it again. If I’m

flying with an individual who is flying a sloppy pattern,

I’ll challenge that person to a contest. I will predict, while

on downwind leg, if the landing will be good or not. A

student will almost always accept the challenge. I’ll writethe letter “G” or “B” on my hand—“G” for a good landing

and “B” for a less than good landing. I can truthfully say

that I’m correct well more than 90 percent of the time.

The more things are done properly and correctly while fly-

ing the traffic pattern, the fewer things have to be fixed on

either the base leg or final approach. The fewer things to

fix, the better the landing.

Note: In the next issue I’ll explain the downwind, base,

and final legs of the traffic pattern and what I look for to

help make a better, more comfortable, safer, smoother,

and uneventful landing.

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. Somethings are better left the way they

were, 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.

First impressions last a lifetime, so put these jewels on and


36/44

Send your answer to EAA, Vintage Airplane, P.O.

Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your answer

needs to be in no later than July 10 for inclusion in

the September 2012 issue of Vintage Airplane.

You can also send your response 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.

This month’s Mystery Plane comes to us from the

EAA archives/Cedric Galloway collection.

MYSTERY PLANE

by H.G. FRAUTSCHY

M A R C H ’ S M Y S T E R Y A N S W E R

Our March Mystery Plane

came to us from the Ce-

dric Galloway collection


37/44

Aircraft Company and the adjunct

Braley School of Flying (211 E.

Douglas Ave. and 6400 E. FranklinRd., Wichita

vintage airplane - jun 2012

Documents