Vintage Airplane - Sep 1986

STRAIGHT AND LEVEL
Oshkosh '86 is now in the record books

and part of our EAA history. What a historical
entry - with new records set in all areas of
our annual Convention.
Your Antique/Classic Division again
played a major role in making an "Air Of Ad-
venture" the most successful of the 34 an-
nual events staged. The new addition to our
headquarters building plus the additional
facilities made the Antique/Classic area one
of the most popular, with crowds twice the
size of last year. To start your Convention
report, I must mention the perfect weather
we enjoyed for this week-long event.
The Antique/Classic group activities with
members and guests participating were at
record levels. Our success can be shown by
a few preliminary figures. Our registered air-
craft of 140 antiques and 654 classics were
up 6 and 14 respectively over last year. This
total of 794 aircraft represented 45 percent
of the total registered show aircraft at Osh-
kosh.
Thanks to Chairman Art Morgan and Co-
Chairman Bob Brauer and their crew, the
''Type Parking" was successful and the rows
of Swifts, Ryans and Ercoupes were beauti-
ful. Our Fly-Out on Monday morning was en-
joyed by 73 people in 35 aircraft. The warm
welcome at Hartford, Wisconsin made this
event the best to date, thanks to Chairman
Bob Lumley. Our Forums Chairman, Ron
Fritz scheduled and presented 24 educa-
tional and technical forums covering antique/
classic aircraft. This activity enjoyed record
attendance. Thanks, Ron.
We were pleased to welcome four mem-
bers from our Antique/Classic Chapter 12 in
San Pedro, Argentina among the Conven-
tion's overseas visitors.
Chairman Kate Morgan along with her
hardworking Co-Chairmen Ruth Coulson, Jo
Olcott and Faye Gustafson - our Headquar-
ters staff in our new building - handled a
42 percent increase in division business.
Thanks ladies.
The backbone of our Convention is the
group of volunteers who helps us each year.
You have heard me mention the EAA spirit
- I know of no better way to show and ex-
plain this phenomenon than to see our volun-
teers in action. Thanks to our Chairman, Ray
Olcott and the 250 plus volunteers assigned
to our areas of the Convention. This year our
committee of Art Morgan and Ray Olcott
selected Dick Doughty as the EAA Antique/
Classic volunteer of the year. Congratula-
tions Dick
Our friends from the Type Clubs utilized a
larger tent and 18 clubs set up their head-
quarters and conducted club business.
Thanks to Butch Joyce, Chairman.
What a task our judges have - Chairmen
George York and Dale Gustafson handle
Classics and Antiques respectively. Working
with 24 field judges, they evaluated hun-
2 SEPTEMBER 1986
by Bob Lickteig
dreds of registered aircraft to recognize and
award the 1986 winners.
The Antique/Classic Monday night River-
boat Cruise was a sellout, and with good
food and refreshments. What a way to top
off a busy Convention day - thanks to
Chairman Jeannie Hill.
One of the busiest places, our Antique/
Classic Workshop, was overflowing with
members learning and helping finish the divi-
sion projects, thanks to Chairman George
Mead and co-chairmen Dave Broadfoot and
Clarence Schreiber.
The Chapter and Membership information
booth was busy all week and 179 new An-
tique/Classic members were signed up
under the leadership of Kelly Viets. The
reunion of previous Grand and Reserve
Grand Champion aircraft was again the
largest display to date of these two category
award winriers. Chairman Dan Neuman
handled the nine returning champions.
The second annual presentation of recog-
nition plaques to pilots of registered aircraft
set a new record for this lifetime remem-
brance, thanks to Chairman Jack Copeland
Co-Chairman Glen Loy. The fine comments
on the new headquarters addition were ap-
preciated, and the extra room was put to
good use by our headquarters staff. Bob
Lumley and Tom Hampshire co-chaired this
project.
Our Third Annual Amateur Photo Contest
chaired by Jack McCarthy attracted more
contestants than ever. Look forward to these
exciting photos in future issues of THE VIN-
TAGE AIRPLANE. Jack also gave us photo
coverage of all events.
The main attraction of the Tuesday Air
Show - the Antique/Classic Parade of Flight
featured 67 aircraft and once again showed
the tremendous interest the spectators have
for this event. Many thanks to Chairman Phil
Coulson and all members who partiCipated.
The crowds at the daily Interview Circle
showed the interest and the quest for an-
swers regarding the restoration of these
beautiful flying machines. Our thanks. to
Chairman Kelly Viets who also chaired this
activity. The OX5 Aviation Pioneers, now a
regular part of our Convention activities,
were also busy all week.
We all enjoy reading the Convention arti-
cles throughout the year in THE VINTAGE
AIRPLANE. Thanks to NC Press Co-Chair-
men Larry D'Attilio and Pamela Foard, we
have another reservoir of interesting stories
for 1987.
No one could miss the two new parking
and flight line buildings, the new cupola on
the top of our headquarters (the Red Barn),
and the "EAA shipshape'" condition of all our
facilities. Our thanks to Construction and
Maintenance Chairman Stan Gomoll and
Co-Chairman John Fogerty.
The responsibility for the security of hun-
dreds of aircraft and our Convention head-
quarters and facilities is on the shoulders of
Chairman Dave Shaw and his Co-Chairmen
Jack Huffman, Dale Faux and Tom Auger. A
big thanks to all.
Our Antique/Classic picniC on Sunday
night had a turn out of over 250 members
and guests. Thanks to Chairman Steve
Nesse and Co-Chairman Jerry Chaffee for
their hard work.
Our newest attraction, the Airline Pilots
Headquarters Tent, was busy with 571 visit-
ing flight crews from 51 airlines, including 12
overseas airlines. We welcome them and
hope we were a good host to them and their
Chairman, Don Toeppen and Co-Chairman
Bob Stimely.
The only way I know to close the Conven-
tion report is to again thank the chairmen,
co-chairmen, committee members and all
the other volunteers, as they are the people
who make this great Oshkosh event possi-
ble. Yes, we are already working on next
year, and it won't be long before your EAA
Antique/Classic Division will welcome you to
Oshkosh '87.
Welcome aboard - join us and you have
it all.
PUBLICATION STAFF
PUBLISHER
TomPoberezny
DIRECTOR
MARKETING &COMMUNICATIONS
DickMatt
EDITOR
GeneR. Chase
CREATIVE ARTDIRECTOR
MikeDrucks
MANAGING EDITOR/ADVERTISING
MaryJones
ASSOCIATE EDITOR
Norman Petersen
DickCavin
FEATURE WRITERS
GeorgeA. Hardie,Jr.
DennisParks
EAAANTIQUE/CLASSIC
DIVISION, INC.
OFFICERS
President
R.J. Lickteig
1718Lakewood
Albert Lea, MN 56007
507/3732922
Secretary
RonaldFritz
15401 SpartaAvenue
KentCity,M149330
616/6785012
VicePresident
M.C."Kelly"Viets
Rt.2, Box128
Lyndon,KS66451
913/8283518
Treasurer
E.E."Buck"Hilbert
P.O.Box145
Union,IL60180
815/923-4591
DIRECTORS
JohnS.Copeland
9JoanneDrive
Westborough,MA01581
617/366-7245
DaleA.Gustafson
n24 ShadyHillDrive
Indianapolis,IN46278
317/2934430
ArthurR.Morgan
3744North51stBlvd.
Milwaukee,WI53216
414/442-3631
DanielNeuman
1521 BerneCircleW.
Minneapolis,MN55421
6121571-0893
JohnR.Turgyan
Box229.R.F.D.2
Wrightstown,NJ08562
609n58-291 0
StanGomoll
104290thLane,NE
Minneapolis,MN55434
612n84-1172
EspleM.Joyce,Jr.
Box468
Madison,NC27025
919/427-0216
GeneMorris
115CSteveCourt,R.R.2
Roanoke,TX76262
817/491-9110
RayOlcott
1500KingsWay
Nokomis,FL33555
813/485-8139
S.J.Wittman
Box2672
Oshkosh,WI54903
414/235-1265
SEPTEMBER 1986 Vol. 14, No.9
Copyright" 1986by the EAA Antique/Classic Division.Inc.All rights reserved.
Contents
2 StraightandLevel
byBobLickteig
4 AlCNews
byGeneChase
5 MysteryPlane
byGeorgeA. Hardie,Jr.
6 MyLoveAffairwithaRedheadNamed
Davis
byClydeBourgeois
Page6
8 LillianBoyer
byTedBusingerandHowardRozelle
13 WelcomeNewMembers
14 RestorationCorner:FabricsandFinishes
andtheInstallationThereof
byDipDavis
16 W. D."Dip"Davis
byE. E. "Buck"Hilbert
17 VintageSeaplanes
byNormPetersen
18 HerrEisenmann'sFokkerD-VIIF
byDickCavin
20 TypeClubActivities- AnnualListing
byGeneChase
22 TheGeneralAristocrat
byGeneChase
24 24thAnnualDentonFly-In
byDickCavin
27 VintageLiterature
byDennisParks
28 CalendarofEvents
29 VintageTrader
FRONTCOVER...1929General Aristocrat, N278H,SIN20, owned
by the Antique Airplane Corporation,Blakesburg, Iowa. See storyon
page 22. (Photo by Sam Hockett)
BACKCOVER...AlexanderEaglerock,circa1928-29,ownedbythe
Union Oil Company.Whocan identifythe engine in this plane?
(EAA Archive Photo- Norman Collection)
Page 8
Page22
GeorgeS. York
181 SlobodaAve.
Mansfield, OH 44906
419/529-4378
ADVISORS
TimothyV.Bo_rs
729-2ndSt.
Woodland,CA95695
9161666-1875
PhilipCoulson
28415SpringbrookDr.
Lawton,M149065
6161624-6490
S.H."Wes"Schmid
2359LefeberAvenue
Wauwatosa.WI53213
414m1-1545
RobertC. "Bob"Brauer
9345 S.Hoyne
Chicago, IL 60620
312n79-2105
RobertD. "Bob"Lumley
N104W20387
WillowCreek Road
Colgate, WI 53017
414/255-6832
W.S."Jerry"Wallin
29804- 179PI.SE
Kent,WA98031
206/631-9644
ThewordsEAA,ULTRALIGHT,FLYWITHTHEFIRSTTEAM,SPORTAVIATION,andthelogosofEXPERIMENTAL
AIRCRAFTASSOCIATION INC., EAAINTERNATIONALCONVENTION, EAAANTIQUE/CLASSICDIVISION INC.,
INTERNATIONALAEROBATIC CLUB INC.,WARBIRDSOFAMERICA INC., are registered trademarks.THE EAA
SKY SHOPPE and logos of the EAA AVIATION FOUNDATION INC. and EAA ULTRALIGHTCONVENTION are
trademarks of the above associations and their use by any person other than the above associations is strictly
prohibited.
Editorial Policy: Readers are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles
are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirelywith the contributor. Material
should be sent to:Gene R. Chase, Editor, The VINTAGE AIRPLANE,Wittman Airfield, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.
Phone:414/426-4800.
TheVINTAGE AIRPLANE (ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by EAA Antique/Classic Division,
Inc.ofthe ExperimentalAircraftAssociation,Inc. and ispublished monthlyatWittman Airfield, Oshkosh,WI 54903-
3086. Second Class Postage paid at Oshkosh, WI 54901 and additional mailing offices. Membership rates for
EAA Antique/Classic Division, Inc. are $18.00 for current EAA members for 12 month period of which $12.00 is
for thepublicationofTheVINTAGE AIRPLANE. Membership is open toall who are interested in aviation.
ADVERTISING- Antique/ClassicDivisiondoesnotguaranteeorendorseanyproductofferedthroughouradvertis-
ing.Weinviteconstructivecriticism andwelcomeanyreportofinferiormerchandiseobtainedthroughouradvertising
so thatcorrective measurescan be taken.
Postmaster:SendaddresschangestoEAAAntique/ClassicDivision,Inc.,WillmanAirfield,Oshkosh,WI54903-3086.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3
Compiled by Gene Chase
1986 OSHKOSH ANTIQUE/CLASSIC
AWARD WINNERS
Following is apartial listing of major
winners at Oshkosh '86. A complete
listing of all award winners will appear
in the Octoberissue.
Classic- 1946 through 1955
Grand Champion- Stinson 108-2,
NC9338K,DavidJorgenson,Riverside,
CA.
ReserveGrandChampion- PiperJ-
3, N98262, Tom and Eileen Macario,
West Chester,PA.
Antique- Manufacturedpriorto1/1/
46
Grand Champion - Boeing Stear-
man, N9856H, Richard Packer, Rad-
nor,OH.
Reserve Grand Champion - Heath
LNA-40, N12814, Gary Rudolph, Vin-
cennes,IN.
WW " Military Trainer/Liaison Air-
craft
Champion Stearman N2S-5, N3839K,
Harold Middlebrook and Dave Shaw,
Penn Yan, NY.
Runner-up Stearman PT-17,
N4935N, Richard Darnell , Oklahoma
City,OK.
Replica Aircraft
Champion- Miles and Atwood Spec-
ial , NR225Y, Leon Atwood and Bill
Turner,Riverside, CA.
Unique Aircraft
Special Award- Fleetwings Seabird,
NC16793, Channing Clark, Burbank,
CA.
POSSIBLE DANGER WITH PLASTIC
GAS CONTAINERS
We have learned of a serious acci-
dent involving apilot who was critically
burned when an explosionoccurred as
he was filling plastic fuel storage con-
tainersinthebackofhisSuburbanvan.
He was fill ing the containers with auto
fuel to be transported to the airport to
be used inhis Luscombe8-A.Thelocal
fire department indicated that static
electricitywas the probablecause.
Richard S. "Dick" Roemer, EAA
SeniorProjectEngineer, hasthistosay
concerning plasticfuel containers..."I
wouldliketostateemphaticallythatsta-
tic electricity discharge is a problem in
any container, but more so in a non-
conductive one.
"Gasoline can form a voltage poten-
tialinsideofacontainer.Inametalcon-
tainer,thispotentialcanbe"drainedoff"
if the person carrying it is on asurface
where a good ground is established.
However, a plastic container is non-
conductiveandthe voltagepotentialre-
mains until a source to ground (like a
fuel fillerneck)isestablished.Ifthevol-
tage potential is high enough, a spark
will be produced - with disastrous re-
sults possible.
"If aplasticcontainerhas to be used
(a metal one is preferred), modify as
followstominimizethechanceofspark
discharge.Purchaseenoughmetalwin-
dow screen from a hardware store to
stuff inside the container. Spread the
screen so that the sides touch the bot-
tom,both sides (long way) and the top
ofthecontainer.Fabricateashortmetal
chain with alligator clips at both ends.
Attach one end to the top of the metal
screen inside the plasticcontainer. Be-
fore pouring the fuel , attach the other
alligator clip to a good ground on the
airplane.
"This simple procedure could save
your life and your airplane."
ELDER STATESMAN OF AVIATION
WINNERS ANNOUNCED
The National Aeronautic Associa-
tion's Elder Statesman of Aviation
SelectionCommittee,composedofdis-
tinguished members of the aerospace
community, recently announced the
selection of the following individuals to
be honored as Elder Statesmen for
1986:J.B."Doc"Hartranft,Jr. ,Anthony
"Tony" LeVier, John Paul Riddle and
John Worth. The awards will be pre-
sented by Clifton F. von Kann, Presi-
dent of the NAA, at a luncheon to be
hostedbythe AeroClubofWashington
on October 28, 1986 in Washington,
D.C.
"Doc" Hartranft is Chairman of the
Board oftheAircraftOwnersand Pilots
AssociationoftheU.S.Heformerlywas
presidentofthatassociationandguided
its destinies from its inception in 1939
when a handful of pilots gathered to-
gether to found the organization which
today is the largest pilot's organization
in the world.
Tony LeVier (EAA 90119) soloed an
OX-5 powered Waco lOin 1930 and
wenton to earn hiscommercial license
and fly as an instructor, barnstormer
and charter pilot. He competed suc-
cessfully in several of the National Air
Races. In 1941 he accepted aposition
with Lockheed,becoming an engineer-
ingtestpilot. From 1955until hisretire-
ment in 1974 he served as Director of
Flying Operations.
John Paul Riddle's aviation ac-
complishments date from the 1920s
when he attended mechanicsschool in
the U.S.Army Air Corps,barnstormed
and operated flying services. In 1926
he formed apartnershipwithT. Higbee
Embry andtheystartedthe Embry-Rid-
dle Flying School. Mr. Riddle is still ac-
tive on the board.
John Worth(EAA203680,AlC7614)
served as a gunner on B-29s duri ng
World WarII. Following his militaryser-
vice he worked as an aeronautical re-
search technician with NACA, later to
become NASA. In 1963 John was
elected President of the Academy of
Model Aeronautics (AMA). The follow-
ing year he was asked to become
Executive Director,a position he holds
today
National BOcker Fly-In, Oct. 3-5
The 6th Annual National BOcker Fly-
In will be held in conjunction with the
29th Annual Tulsa Fly-In at Tahlequah,
Oklahoma, October 3-5, 1986. Well-
known aerobatic pilot Frank Price is
presidentoftheBOckerClubandwillbe
in charge ofthe BOcker Fly-in.
Frank's accomplishments in aviation
are many and they includehiscompet-
ing in Europe in 1960 as the first ever
U.S.representative in internationalaer-
obatic competition. Not many realize
that Frank was the pilot of the BOcker
Jungmeister in the movie, The Great
Waldo Pepper.
(L-R)FrankPrice,Waco,Texas,president
ofthe National BOeker Cluband Charles
Harris, president of Antique/Classic
Chapter 10 in Tulsa, sharethe mikeata
recentairshowinOklahoma.
4 SEPTEMBER 1986
EAA Photo donated by Dr. Reid PaHerson, Whitewater, Wi sconsin
by George A. Hardie, Jr.
No doubt many of our experts will rec-
ognize this airplane immediately. The
"mystery" concerns certain details
which will be revealed when the answer
is published. The photo was submitted
by Reid Patterson of Whitewater, Wis-
consin, who says it was taken in 1934
or 1935, location unknown. Answers will
be published in the December, 1986
issue of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE.
Deadline for that issue is October 10,
1986.
Herman Fassnacht of Pontiac, Illinois
correctly identified the Mystery Plane
for June, 1986 as the Stauffer gyrop-
lane. Stauffer, the designer, is shown at
left in the photo; the man in the cockpit
is Warren North. The others are un-
known . Not much else is known about
the aircraft , but the airframe, wings and
engine are still in storage, according to
Dale Glossenger, 70185 Beach Drive,
Edwardsburg, MI49112 who sent in the
photo.
Charley Hayes of Park Forest, Illinois
and Ben Bowman, Elizabethtown,
Pennsylvania both remarked on its simi-
larity to the Herrick Vert-a-Plane fea-
tured in a previous Mystery Plane col-
umn .
What Aircraft Carried This Panel?
This photo was submitted by Ken and
Shirley Williams of Portage, Wisconsin. They
have been unable to identify the plane it
came from. Can any readers help? The all -
in-one instrument contains a tachometer,
ammeter, oil pressure and temperature, fuel
pressure and quantity.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5
'3fJtd--

by Clyde Bourgeois
(EAA 38358, AlC 1161 )
3691 Tivola Street Santa Ynez, CA
93460
It is surprising how one searches his
mind to find a reason to do things. This
is what I did when I saw the Davis sitting
in Clayton Graves' hangar in Santa
Paula, California and decided to buy it on
the spot. I remembered one I saw as a
kid at the Omaha Air Races in 1930. I
had only seen one other since, and that
was at Oshkosh parked next to my
newly finished Starduster II in 1970. Be-
fore seeing the Davis in Clay's hangar,
I had little or no thought of restoring any
aircraft. I was interested in only some-
thing new. Little did I realize what my
future would be because of the Davis.
My first flight in the Davis was also its
first flight after about 14 years in stor-
age. It flew great, hands off and no ap-
parent trouble. I took it to Santa Bar-
bara, and parked it among the various
projects that I was working on as design
consultant and project manager for
Jack Conroy (Guppy fame) . The various
things that were in progress at that time
were converting a DC-3, Super DC-3,
Grumman Albatross SA-16 and Cessna
337 to turbine power.
After several hours of flying the
Davis, checking and poking things
began to reveal that all was not well
underneath. I then decided my beautiful
new Davis needed a complete over-
haul. This was a good description.
Photo by the author
The Davis is a handsome aircraft with excellent flight characteristics. This is the author' s
model V-3, NC848H, SIN 106.
Some of the things I found under that
beautiful exterior were : a cracked main
wing spar, several clevis pins in the
drag wires without cotter pins and many
rib stitching cords broken.
The fuselage showed many repairs;
some very poorly done. The fuselage
was twisted about 10 degrees, but cor-
rected by stringers and formers so it
Photo by D. A. Walker
The double tapered wing is evident in this view.
looked good. It also flew fine. Naturally
all this trouble and repair was never en-
tered in the log books. I was finally able
to reconstruct its approximate history by
getting a copy of all the paper work on
file from the FAA Records Section in
Oklahoma City.
In my effort to rebuild the Davis to its
original state, I tried in vain to obtain
enough original drawings for the resto-
ration. I even contacted the widow of
the builder, Mrs. Walter C. Davis. I fi-
nally contacted John Underwood, a
writer and photographer who had a file
on the Davis. I bought his entire file of
photos, and from them I reconstructed
the plane.
Some of the photos were 8 x 10s
showing the construction of the Davis;
and by comparing known sizes with
parts in question, a reasonable fac-
simile was made. The engine was in
like condition, however, it ran very
good. It used a lot of oil , (1 qt. per hour
per cylinder), and never fouled any"
plugs. It's powered with a 145 Warner,
(all Warners are super engines).
I spent about 2500 hours in rebuilding
the airframe and engine. I am extremely
pleased with the airplane. It's very easy
to fly and hasn't any bad traits. It's light
on the controls, although its roll re-
sponse is rather sluggish. I don't spin it
6 SEPTEMBER 1986
as it needs a lot of room to recover. It
will take off in 300 feet and climb very
well with this engine. The original power
plant was a LeBlond 75 hp. It does have
a lot of drag, so with power off it does
come down.. There are no restrictions
on the Davis except the rather low
never exceed speed of 103 mph. With
the 145 Warner I can exceed this speed
on take off. New Super Cubs don't out-
cl imb it.
My Davis is a 1929 Model V-3,
NC848H, SIN 106, the sixth one built
and I believe it's the oldest one flying.
Two other V-3s are currently on the
FAA Aircraft Registry: SIN 101 (the pro-
totype) owned by Morton Lester in Vir-
ginia and SIN 107 owned by Dick Geist
in Kansas. There were about 24 V-3s
built.
The total number of Davis aircraft
built was about 58, including models 0-
1, 0-1-66, D-1-K, and D-1-W. In addi-
tion to the LeBlonds, original power
plants included Kinners and Warners.
NC848H was first sold to the Dayton
Air Institute, Inc. on June 20, 1929. Its
LeBlond 5-0-470 engine was later re-
placed with a 145 hp Warner.
The first model V-3 was somewhat
different from the others. Its cabane
struts were 4" shorter, making entry
even more difficult in already cramped
cockpits. Also in later models the hori-
zontal stabilizer was enlarged to im-
Photo by D. A. Walker
The author' s newly restored Davis V-3 performs very well with its 145 hp Warner engine.
prove the plane's spin recovery. Davis (SIN 302) , a Funk, Beech Staggerwing
aircraft are not large, with a wing span and a Swearingen SX300. And Ole
of 30' 2" and a length of about 19' de- Fahl in called the other day asking if I
pending on engine installation. wanted metal tips on the propeller for
Since the restoration of my Davis, my Corben Baby Ace.
several other interesting projects are You can imagine the fun I am having,
awaiting attention in the shop including especially since I acquired the Davis,
the second Cessna C-34 manufactured now almost 10 years ago .
Photo courtesy of the author
The Davis Aircraft Corp. plant in Richmond, Indiana in the early 1930s. The two aircraft in the background with tails installed are
NC857N and NC855N. Wing construction is duralumin ribs on laminated spruce spars.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7
Lillian Boyer in 1922. She was given many titles in newspaper accounts of her perfor-
mances. "Empress of the Skies" was one of them.
by Howard Rozelle and Ted Businger
(EAA 93838, NC 2333)
(Photos from the authors' collections)
Lillian Boyer was born on June 15,
1900 at Omaha, Nebraska, the
youngest of seven children (3 boys and
4 girls). In 1902 her family moved to
Peelee Island, Canada, and in 1907 to
Sandusky, Ohio. Then in 1912 her par-
ents separated, which meant that
henceforth she would have to fend for
herself (there was precious little welfare
in those days) .
A married sister in Detroit allowed her
to live with them, if she was self-sup-
porting. Her first job was in a laundry,
but she was determined to improve her
lot in life just as rapidly as her dearth of
education would permit. Later, oppor-
tunities saw her working as a sales
8 SEPTEMBER 1986
clerk, telephone operator and as a
Western Union postal telegraph
operator.
In 1915 another married sister (who
with her husband owned a restaurant in
Chicago) asked Lillian to join them as a
waitress. This was an immense finan-
cial improvement as then her earnings
were $28.00 a week ($8.00 paycheck
and $20.00 in tips).
One day in April 1919, two aviators
were customers at the restaurant and
they were to alter the course of her life.
One of those men was Elmer Partridge,
who with a Mr. Keller had built a plane
for Katherine Stinson in 1915/16. At that
time Mr. Partridge operated Ashburn
Field at Chicago and was engaged in
some minor barnstorming activity that
he limited to Illinois and the adjacent
area. The other man was a Mr. Snyder.
During the course of that meal , while
Lillian served their table, one of these
gentlemen asked her if she'd like to go
for a plane ride. This sounded exciting
and she agreed. Up to that time Lillian
did not recall ever having seen a plane,
or if she did, it made no impression.
These men were earnestly searching
for a girl wing-walker which would at-
tract maximum attention of the public.
They felt this would insure prosperity for
their barnstorming activity. Lillian would
be the sixteenth girl they interviewed,
and would test for the job.
On the appointed Saturday for her
first flight, it rained torrents. Puddles
were numerous during take off and as
they accelerated down the muddy field
they hit a large puddle causing the
plane to nose over. As the damage was
rather minimal, it didn't take too long to
repair and soon they were off again for
a very pleasant flight. Mr. Partridge was
impressed with her lack of hysterics
over the incident and invited her back
for another flight. This time he re-
quested that she wear slacks, a sweater
and tennis shoes. She would soon learn
why.
Before Lillian's second flight, Par-
tridge instructed her how to leave the
confines of the cockpit, what she was
to grab onto and where to put her feet!
Most importantly were the hand signals
he would use.
After take off they climbed to 1000
feet and the pilot indicated it was time
for Lillian to get out onto the wing. It
was a pleasant surprise for her when
she discovered it was so similar to the
barn and tree climbing that she'd done
as a little girl. In a short time Mr. Par-
tridge was satisfied with her ability and
signaled for her to return to the cockpit.
Not being sure if she had the job yet,
she walked on out to the end of the
wing. When she glanced in the pilot's
direction he was frantically waving her
back.
As soon as they landed, his friends
surrounded them and repeated over
and over, "We've got our girl!" That re-
ally made Lillian feel good. Then Mr.
Partridge took her aside and asked her
if she had been trying to commit suicide
up there!
Several weeks later he arranged for
a public display with Lillian's first plane-
to-plane transfer to be the highlight of
the show. The exhibition came off with
much fanfare and a movie cameraman
recorded the event. Later on she
learned how poorly prepared they were
for that stunt. Fortunately the day was
absolutely perfect with no hitches and
every1hing went off as planned.
Someone in that crowd suggested
she change her named to Ethyl Dare. It
seemed that was the name used by her
predecessor. There just wasn't anyway
that she'd agree to that. If her own name
wasn't good enough then she'd just
have to get out of the business. For the
next four years they advertised her age
as 19!
As the fall season neared, Mr. Par-
tridge decided that Lillian 's ability was
deserving of wider exposure than he
was able or willing to involve himself in.
He wired his friend, a WW I ace named
Lt. Billy Brock to return to Chicago in
order to see for himself just how she
might fit into his organization. Mr. Par-
tridge's unselfish act has never been
forgotten as he was under no obligation
to further her career.
After Lt. Brock was satisfied that Lil-
lian was the individual who could round
out his flying circus, he signed her to a
generous long-term contract. That fall
and winter season was spent at Chat-
tanooga, Tennessee. Her training was
nearly identical to that given to top gym-
nasts. A very strict diet was imposed
and even her resting time was under
strict control. Regular hikes to the
mountain tops included sitting on over-
hanging ledges just to check her
nerves.
That spring, Lt. Brock scheduled in-
creasing amounts of time in the hangar
with the "Cannuck." There they re-
hearsed every move that she'd make
from the instant she rose in her seat
until she was settled back in the cockpit.
No detail was too trivial for Lt. Brock
because both of their lives could de-
pend on the accuracy and proper timing
of each sequence. Lillian never found it
boring to repeat each stunt over and
At Lookout Mountain, Rock City, Georgia, 21-year-old Lillian Boyer trains high above
the forest on overhanging rocks to be sure she has no fear of heights. The year was
1921.
.. -
Lt. Billy Brock, WW I flier and his wing walker, Lillian Boyer. She would not make the car-to-plane change with any other pilot.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 9
over again. There just wasn't any place
in their routine for foolhardiness or
bravado. They were professionals and
had to perform accordingly.
In order to draw the sizeable crowds
needed to support their efforts, they had
to present themselves in a way that fit
the onlookers' image of daring aviators.
They would not be encumbered with
any excess paraphernalia and the only
time she wore a parachute was when
there was a scheduled jump.
Lillian was never very fond of the
parachute, but had to accept it as part
of her act. Her costume consisted of a
canvas helmet, a sweater, riding
breeches and tennis shoes.
For the next eight years they toured
the country stopping only at those loca-
tions which had contracted for their
specialty. She was treated like a queen
at these stops. Usually there was a
chauffeur-driven limousine placed at
her disposal.
The aerial routine consisted of a car-
to-plane change first, followed by a walk
to the end of a wing, where she per-
formed a head stand. Next she'd hang
by her toes from the cabane wires, then
it was over to the wing tip skid where
she did a "break-a-way." That was a
drop from the plane with only a 1/4 inch
cable to stop her fall.
Lillian always had strong arms and
shoulders and those were a prime
necessity for that act. When down on
the cable, she inserted a special mouth-
piece which clamped her jaws shut
tightly when her body weight was on
the cable. The small diameter of the
cable prevented the audience from see-
ing it, which gave the illusion of free
flight beneath the plane.
When Brock lowered the ladder, she
did several other tricks as she made her
way back to the plane. Next it was back
on the top wing for a "standing lOOp." In
this manuever there were two leather
straps for her feet , and nothing else! If
the contract called for a parachute
jump, they would close the program
with a "pull-off" type jump. This
Lillian makes the car to plane change at the St. Paul, Minnesota State Fair in 1922. AI
Cody was driving the car and Vice-President Calvin Coolidge was in the audience. She
usually performed in a white outfit and tennis shoes.
technique involved the jumper fastening
his/her parachute harness to a
parachute packed into a bag which was
fastened to a wing strut. When the
jumper left the plane, the chute's shroud
lines and canopy streamed from the
bag.
As in most repetitive actions, there
were slight variations in their routine, in
spite of their efforts to prevent them . At
Hawthorn Speedway in Chicago in
1925 they came the closest to total dis-
aster. During a car-to-plane change,
they usually started with Brock in the
plane and Paul Clancy driving the race
car with Lillian aboard. Clancy would
overtake the "Cannuck" and she'd climb
the ladder into the plane.
On that day they came out of the turn
on the race track ahead of Brock. As
the plane overtook the car, the rope lad-
der caught the race car's exhaust pipe.
Lillian was so intent on catching the lad-
der just perfectly that she failed to
notice the predicament. Clancy realized
it first and swerved the car away from
the course of the plane. His quick action
released the rope ladder but by then
Brock was fighting to regain his lost air
speed and Lillian was being dragged
across the ground. Billy Brock's superb
flying skill prevailed and Lillian ended
up with a raw seat of the pants plus a
lot of other scratches and bruises.
Lillian made a total of 37 parachute
jumps with thirteen of them ending up
in Lake Erie. She had never learned to
swim, so a boat always had to be
positioned to pick her up. Of course she
did wear a life jacket. She used
emergency chutes with only 18 foot
canopies.
Lillian hangs by one hand with no safety devices. Lillian rode the wing of the Cannuck while the aircraft was
looped. Only two leather foot straps secured her to the plane.
10 SEPTEMBER 1986
(L-R) Glen Kiser, pilot; James Falkner, pilot; Lillian Boyer; Billy Brock, p.ilot; and movie
cameraman standing in cockpit with hand-crank camera.
Her last jumps were performed at
Trenton, New Jersey at 1000 ft .
maximum altitude. On the first day she
landed on a roof. The next day the wind
carried her into the midway area and
when the ferris wheel operator saw her
dilemma, he stopped the wheel and she
landed in one of the basket seats and
rode the wheel down.
On tne last day she was absolutely
determined to land in front of the grand-
stand. Again the wind was jostling her
badly but frantic manipulation of the
shroud lines seemed to correct the situ-
ation. Then on one pull the parachute
spilled and Lillian hit the ground with a
mighty thud. It took three months in the
hospital to heal a broken spine, hip and
ribs.
At a show in Milwaukee, Wisconsin ,
with her mother and sister in atten-
dance, she decided to jump off and free
fall rather than use the normal "pull off"
method. While falling and looking at the
sky for too long, she found that she was
covering her chute and it could not
open. Nearing the ground, she rolled
over and the chute popped . It was a
hard landing! When her mother saw the
problem, she just closed her eyes and
prayed.
On one fall day they were doing the
"standing loop" when the right hand foot
strap broke as they came out at the bot-
tom of the maneuver. This threw her
against the wing very hard injuring her
back. As the season was coming to a
close, it seemed proper to see it out.
When it ended, Lillian underwent
surgery for the removal of her tail bone.
On one other occasion things went
badly amiss. They were doing the car-
to-plane change, but just couldn 't seem
to get synchronized. After a number of
missed attempts, Lillian sensed the au-
dience getting restless. On the next
pass she grabbed the bottom rung of the
rope ladder. This was forbidden by Lt.
Brock, and all too soon she learned
why.
With her hands on the bottom rung
and the force of the slipstream against
her body, she couldn 't raise her legs
Lillian made 37 jumps using an 18-foot
emergency chute.
onto the ladder. She was on the ragged
edge of exhaustion when Brock helped
by slowing the Cannuck and flying at
near stall speed. Lillian managed to
climb the ladder back into the plane.
After the landing, Brock really gave her
a tongue lashing for that mistake.
In 1927, Detroit millionaire Ed Schlee
approached Brock with a proposition for
a world flight. This opportunity was just
too good for Brock to pass up. The bal-
Lillian drops from the plane while holding the cable. She then hung by her mouth using
a special device at the cable end. Note ladder below aft fuselage which pilot lowered
for her re-entry to the cockpit.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11
Billy Brock and Lillian flank the driver 01 one of the race cars A near tragedy occurred when the ladder engaged the car's
used for the car-to-plane change. exhaust pipe and Lillian was dragged for some distance down
the track. Note spectators running for safety.
ance of 1927 and all of 1928, Lillian flew
with Brock's assistant, Delmar Snyder.
Mr. Snyder was a very good pilot, but
not the superb airman that Brock was.
She never did perform another plane-
to-plane or car-to-plane change.
When the government came out with
an edict against all low level stunts, it
effectively ruled air show performers out
of the sky. The crowds wanted the thrill
of seeing them at close range and per-
formance at high altitude with loads of
safety devices just wouldn 't sell. Thafs
when barnstorming came to an end .
Those barnstorming years allowed
her to accumulate a sizeable nest egg,
but it was wiped out by the 1929 stock
market crash.
Lillian Boyer has many pleasant
memories of those days, most of all the
never ending kindness of so many of
the troupe's admirers. The 1925 Cana-
dian National Exhibition was a special
highlight. After two weeks of pure joy,
those nice people presented her with a
solid silver tray that she still treasures.
And she vividly recalls their perfor-
mance at St. Paul , Minnesota in 1922
with Vice-President Calvin Coolidge in
the crowd.
In 1932, cancer felled Billy Brock.
Their entire troupe grieved with his
widow. He was a fine man and a truly
outstanding aviator.
With her aviation career behind her,
she tried automobile match racing,
competing against another lady driver.
Early in the race she slid coming out of
a turn and smashed head long into a
crash barrier. She wasn 't hurt, but the
car was pretty well banged up. That was
the end of that.
In spite of that bad racing experience,
she married race driver Swan Peterson.
He was killed in Texas in 1934 in an
auto race crash. In 1937 she married
Ernest Werner and they shared 35 idyl-
lic years together.
Although not as exciting as those
barnstorming days, Lillian Boyer still en-
joys a yearly flight on her birthday with
her friend, Bill Allen, in his Stearman .
12 SEPTEMBER 1986
Photo by Howard Rozelle
Betty Wharton, Lillian Boyer and Florence Shirra (astronaut Wally Shirra' s mother) at
the San Diego Air Space Museum, 1981.
Photo by Howard Rozelle
Lillian Boyer enjoyed a ride on her 83rd birthday with her friend, Bill Allen (EAA 193107,
AlC 9195), La Jolla, California. Bill looped the Stearman and she loved it.
WELCOME NEWMEMBERS
The following is apartiallisting of new members who have joined the EAA Antique/Classic Division (through the
end of April , 1986). We are honored to welcome them into the organization whose members' common interest is
vintage aircraft. Succeeding issues of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE will contain additional listings of new members.
Hann, PhyllisM.
Rancho Cucamonga,California
Ritchie, Earl
Pittsburgh,Pennsylvania
Dunn, Steve
Knoxville,Tennessee
Crosland,Robert E.
Winston-Salem,North Carolina
CraigJr.,AlexanderM.
Nantucket,Massachusetts
Gruber, Curtis
Richardson,Texas
Doyle, Edward
Hampton,Iowa
Elvy, MarcA.
Lincoln,Massachusetts
Horne, Rick
Montgomery,Alabama
Gonsalves,Anthony
Stoughton,Massachusetts
Bradley,Paul
Clarkston,Washington
Rumolo,David J.
Citrus Heights,California
Byrd,David Johnson
Greensboro,North Carolina
Kirkeridge, Malcolm
Brooksville, Maine
Lemieux,GeorgeE.
Livonia, Michigan
McCutcheon III, ClaudeC.
Slidell ,Louisiana
Cavage,RichardFrank
Carbondale,Illinois
Karl ,Dennis V.
Powell ,Ohio
Jones, WalterC.
Salt Lake City,Utah
Buechle, AnthonyA.
Elm Grove,Wisconsin
Lewis, John R.
South Dennis, NewJersey
Heath,Joe
FPO San Francisco,California
O'Connor,HowardJ.
Napanee,Ontario,Canada
Hopper, Lester- E.
NewOrleans, Louisiana
Van Drie, KathyDawn
Sewickley,Pennsylvania
Lee, David W.
Cape Coral ,Florida
Baggarley,Luther
Roberta,Georgia
Matthews,Robert E.
Hoffman Estates,Illinois
King, Paul A.
Ben Lomond,California
Sharpe, CharlesO.
Chase,Kansas
Hackman, RobertJ
Allentown,Pennsylvania
Hupp,RobertA.
Santa Clara,California
Dunn,RogerH.
Traben, West Germany
Morgan,JohnD.
Mount Carmel ,Illinois
Zilik,Roy P.
Roanoke,Texas
HabermehlJr., HansE.
Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin
Dillon, JamesR.
Evanston,Illinois
Mooney,PatrickD.
Williamson,Georgia
Trent,Bruce E.
Jonesboro,Georgia
Ulrich,GeorgeW.
Waukegan, Illinois
Burnett, HarryW.
Akron,Ohio
Green,Robert E.
Oklawaha,Florida
Stenger, Harry
Bartow,Florida
Frederick,TrevorS.
Hudson,Indiana
Dicum, Henry
Moraga,California
Lawrence, BennyH.
High Point,North Carolina
Martin,J. Vernon
Lake Wales,Florida
Barlow, Ennis B.
Stockbridge,Georgia
Connell,TommyG.
Valdosta,Georgia
Leavens, William
Long Valley, New Jersey
DeFranco,Lee
Tampa,Florida
Garl ,Merlin R.
Lakeland, Florida
Kohl, Thomas
Tampa,Florida
Hedgecock,RobertJ.
Barnesville,Georgia
Matthis,Odell
Newport,North Carolina
Powell, Thomas F.
Jacksonville,Florida
Wood, Marshall C.
Sacramento,California
Immel ,Roy
llano,Texas
Hurd,David
Alameda,Cal ifornia
Spidel ,Lynn R.
Kendallville, Indiana
Welsh,JackS.
Rolling Hills Estates,California
EnoJr., RobertW.
Marietta,Pennsylvania
Lazarus, William
Girdwood,Alaska
Campbell Jr.,J. Ken
Concord,Georgia
Ginn,Clifford R.
Tulsa,Oklahoma
Meyer, Brian
Beacon Falls, Connecticut
Sackett,HalleyComet
Fullerton,California
Weideman, RobertW.
Simi Valley,California
Glossinger,DavidW.
Dayton,Ohio
DoyleJr., Donald M.
Indianapolis,Indiana
Bryden, Dan
Anaheim,California
Pierce, Henry
Peconic,NewYork
Finkenbine,Roger
Tucson,Arizona
Semrad, LaVerne
Guthrie,Oklahoma
Kisielewski, Robert
Chandler,Arizona
Hamilton,T. A.
Cleveland, South Africa
Kratky, Frank
Bellevue,Colorado
Patterson, Amy
Arlington,Virginia
Castaneda, Raoul
Babylon,New York
Dooley, Steven
Newark,Delaware
Baker, JohnT.
Macon,Georgia
Haumschild,NanetteM.
Lakeland, Minnesota
Clark, BruceM.
Salem,New Hampshire
Steffens, David G.
Phoenix,Arizona
Leskinen, SigurdWilliam
Madison,Wisconsin
Otterback, James H.
Sheboygan,Wisconsin
Auman, W. B.
Yorktown,Virginia
Wrobleski ,JamesL.
Broken Arrow,Oklahoma
Hankammer,JohnO.
Topeka,Kansas
Frost, Kent D.
Fairland, Indiana
Lowe, Anthony E.
Eden Prairie, Minnesota
Dedman, Sherman Ray
Converse,Indiana
Hoyt,Christopher
Chula Vista,California
Evans, William C.
Lithia Springs,Georgia
Cole,David L.
Kingwood,Texas
Day, RobertC.
Carmel ,Maine
Wilkinson, Lorin L.
Yelm,Washington
McCormick, Dennis
Sumner,Washington
Wells, HarveyB.
Kennebunkport, Maine
Dawson, ThomasR.
Brooskville,Florida
Lange, Martin R.
Glen Burnie, Maryland
Ducry,JeanJacques
Villars,Switzerland
Stahulak,JosephA.
SI. Charles,Illinois
Baines, JackT.
Glen Burnie,Maryland
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13
Restoration Corner
Editor's Note: This seventh installment
of the "Restoration Corner" covers the
selection and installation of fabrics and
finishes. It will be presented in two
parts. The author, Dip Davis, needs no
introduction to many restorers of vin-
tage aircraft, but Buck Hilbert pays tri-
bute to him in an article on page 15 of
this issue of THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE
... G.R.C.
FABRICS AND FINISHES
AND THE INSTALLATION
THEREOF
by Dip Davis
(EAA 55767, NC 1804)
There are almost as many opinions
regarding the proper fabric and finish
for antique and classic airplanes as
there are people performing the task. If
you have a genuine showpiece which
will be pampered and polished and
flown only to air shows for champion-
ship judging, then Grade A cotton fabric
with innumerable coats of dope and un-
countable hours of sanding and polish-
ing is probably the route to take. If, how-
ever, you plan to use the airplane for
more mundane purposes such as occa-
sional transportation, and perhaps have
less than ideal storage conditions be-
tween flights, a synthetic fabric will be
much more practical.
Grade A has not only become more
expensive than the alternatives, it has
also suffered in longevity. Eighty
pounds has always been the minimum
allowable tensile strength for new fabric
but several years ago when the demand
was brisk and sales competition a fac-
tor, cotton mills produced a "long staple"
fabric which would test 90 Ibs. or better
when fresh.
Current production of Grade A, of
course, meets the minimum standard
but has far less margin for deterioration
down to the 56 pound tensile strength
that is the lowest allowable reading for
an airplane with a wing loading of more
than nine pounds per square foot or a
never-exceed speed of 160 mph or fas-
ter.
Irish Aero Linen was an excellent al -
ternative for years but is no longer avail-
able in this country at any price.
Fortunately, thirty years of field ex-
perience with Dacron fabrics has pretty
well overcome all of the early problems
with its use.
Early Ceconite and Eonex had a tex-
ture approaching that of corduroy and
was so stiff that at least three hands
were required to glue it around a corner.
In its favor was the fact that it proved to
be almost indestructable and most of
the airplanes which were covered with
this material and are subsequently hav-
ing the fabric replaced again are doing
so not because the fabric is bad, but
because the structure underneath re-
quires attention.
Since the heavy (3.8 ounce per
square yard) material proved to be virtu-
ally a lifetime cover, the next evolutio-
nary step was to produce a lighter
weight, more flexible synthetic cloth. 2.7
ounce Dacron is actually slightly less in
weight than Grade A cotton but pro-
vides a tensile strength approximately
25% greater as well as being far
superior in resistance to deterioration
from industrial pollution and acid rain.
This has become the material of choice
for the majority of recoverers.
Dope finishes which were developed
for use on cotton and linen proved to be
unsatisfactory on synthetic fabrics due
to the hard, slick texture of the threads
with no nap or "fuzz" to grip the initial
coats. Even the airframe manufacturers
who pioneered in the use of the new
materials were embarrassed to find the
finish peeling off in sheets, clear down
to the bare fabric. All of the major air-
craft fi nish suppliers have long since
come up with magic potions as prime
coats which will provide excellent adhe-
sion to polyester fabric without making
the surface brittle.
Assuming you have now been con-
vinced to choose a synthetic fabric for
your cover job, we'll proceed with the
operation:
Hopefully the airplane you are restor-
ing had the original (or previous re-
placement) fabric still attached. Never
mind how tattered or bedraggled it has
become, remove it in as nearly intact
condition as possible. Wings are best
stripped by slitting the trailing edge fab-
ric with a razor blade and rolling the
cover forward , cutting the rib stitch cord
as you go. This should get it off in one
piece which can then be folded in a
reasonably small bundle and stored
someplace for future reference. If the
manufacturer used sheet metal screws
or metal clips to secure the fabric to the
ribs rather than rib stitching, it will be
necessary to peel the surface tapes
from each rib so that the fasteners may
be removed before peeling the main
skin. The object is to not destroy the old
rag until you are through with the entire
job. You will puzzle over the location of
reinforcement cut-outs, cable exits and
the like for hours if you don't have the
pattern to refer to.
Inspection, repair and protection of
the structure from corrosion are impor-
tant enough to be the subject of a sepa-
rate treatise so we'll skip to the next
chapter, assuming that everything has
been properly prepared and signed off
as "ok for cover" by a duly authorized
inspector type person.
The FAA's Advisory Circular 43.13-
1A, chapter 3 has excellent guideline
material on covering and finishing but
addresses only cotton and linen, there-
fore much of the information is not appli-
cable to synthetic fabrics. The pur-
veryors of your specific grade of polyes-
ter material will furnish FAA approved
application and data which, if followed
carefully, should produce good results.
If the instructions included with the
products you intend to use conflict with
what you read here, ignore that portion
of this article and follow the procedures
given in that manual.
Pre-sewn envelopes can save time
and material and are available for most
standard production airplanes even
though that production may have
ceased many years ago. These en-
velopes are merely slipped on like a
sock and the open ends glued to the
structure. The only objection we ever
hear raised to the use of pre-sewn
covers is the sewn seam line, particu-
larly on a fuselage where it may leave
an obvious ridge. Careful installation
and a watchful eye as the fabric is
14 SEPTEMBER 1986
tautened can usually keep this line penetration, reinstall the clothespin and nearly so. Fabric is wrapped around this
parallel to the longerons or stringers move on to the adjacent area. edge and cemented to the opposite,
and close enough to them to be covered A neat alternative to this method in- curved edge with a one-inch overlap
by a surface tape common to both. The volves brushing a liberal coat of cement cemented onto the first side. Hinge
alternative method (we'll dismiss hand onto the entire structure when the fabric brackets may be covered with no cut-
sewing the cover in place as totally out is attached and allowing it to dry com- outs made until the shrinking process
of the question) is to cement yard goods pletely before cutting the fabric to shape has begun. This will avoid excessively
directly to the structure. Most brands of and clamping it in place with the same large slots being cut as the fabric moves
finishing systems employ a cellulose exotic tooling mentioned above. The around during tautening.
cement for this purpose. Former model wrinkles may then be worked out and Structural members such as the
airplane builders will recognize the the fabric carefully positioned before diagonal braces used on Aeronca hori-
smell immediately upon opening the brushing straight MEK or dope thinner zontal stabilizers are below the surface
can. Peeling this stuff off your fingers at onto the edges of the fabric where it of the ribs but only a fraction of an inch
the end of a session will also provide a contacts the structure. This will soften beneath skin level and if no protective
nostalgia trip. the cement and allow it to be worked covering is applied to these tubes the
We'll hope the primer you used on into the weave of the fabric by rubbing. fabric will have a tendency to glue itself
the structure is not soluble in the ce- After the clothespins have been re- down at unwanted spots when the
ment , a situation that results in a discol - moved, another coat of cement may be primer coat is applied. Chafe point tape,
ored mess at the attach pOints and may applied to the surface if it appears the or even cellophane tape applied to this
leave some bare tubing exposed to the weave has not been filled adequately. structure before the cover is installed
elements. If you have doubts about your Do not cement the fabric to stringers or will preclude the problem.
primer, test it by wiping lightly with a rag intermediate structure, only to the outer Since we've progressed this far with
which has been dipped in dope thinner. perimeter of the expanse of fabric being the installation of the fabric, we may as
If the thinner removes any material , installed so that the shrinkage can be well wrap up the wings before we dis-
apply a coat of dope-proof finish such evenly distributed when heat is applied. cuss techniques of tautening and dop-
as an epoxy primer over the existing Penetration of the sealer coats will pro- ing even though you 'll almost certainly
paint. vide adhesion every place the fabric proceed past this point with each com-
It's not possible to compile one set of contacts the substructure. ponent before moving to the next.
instructions which will apply to all Top and bottom fabric panels are cut Wings with a chord greater than 58
shapes of airframes, but, in general , ce- to overlap the sides by approximately inches will require sewing in some fash-
menting the fabric first to the bottom an inch and simply cemented in place. ion. If someone in the family is an expert
longeron and pulling it up to cover each This seam will later be covered by a on the old Singer, sewing three panels
side individually works best. The verti- surface tape. together with a double seam is no big
cal fin on most airplanes can be covered If your airplane employs a doped fab- deal. A person who isn't current on
with the same unbroken expanse of ric interior in lieu of upholstery panels, such a machine and perhaps doesn't
cloth as the fuselage side if the wider as does the J-3 Cub, the interior must even have a multi-needle rating wil l
(64 to 66 inch) widths are used. This be done before the outside fabric is in- want to exercise another option. An en-
technique will leave a vee shaped open- stalled. You'll find that, even though velope cover with a pre-sewn tip shape
ing forward of the fin's leading edge and small areas of fabric are involved and involves only cementing the root rib and
there must be a solid structural member most of it can be done with left-over aileron bay. Chordwise sewn seams do
someplace within reach of the fabric scraps, the manhours expended will ex- not want to be positioned directly over
edge to which the fabric can be ceed the time required to cover the out- a rib but should be carefully aligned
cemented or it will be necessary to hand side of the fuselage. An interior fabric parallel to the ribs.
sew the two sides together at this highly kit is available for the J-3 for just a few Aileron cutouts can often present a
visible point, generally an unacceptable bucks. This provides sewn tabs for at- problem. Due to the concave structure
solution as it is nearly impossible to hide tachment to the tubing in the rear seat in this bay the fabric will have a ten-
the stitches. as required to give the authentic look. dency to pull loose from the contour and
Positioning the fabric is made easy Most other airplanes' interiors are sim- "bridge" in a straight line between the
by the use of spring clothespins which ply cut from yard goods. upper and lower surface as the shrink-
are still available at most hardware If this airplane is your initiation into ing occurs. This, of course, results in a
stores even though most people have the aromatic world of fabric covering, binding aileron and can't be tolerated.
forgotten their original purpose. It is you may wish to begin with a control Various airframe manufacturers have
neither necessary nor desirable to surface or two before tackling the tackled this problem in various ways.
stretch the fabric tightly when installing, aforementioned fuselage. Pre-sewn en- Cessna cut "teeth" in the aluminum on
as is the case with cotton. Just eliminate velopes make this task almost too easy which the fabric is hooked. Stinson at-
the puckers or "gathers". Fabric cement and the all -cemented blanket method tached metal strips with P.K. screws
dries rapidly and it isn't possible to work doesn't take a whole lot longer. One over the fabric and Ercoupe drilled a
a very long seam when cementing di- piece of fabric will generally be wide row of holes through which the fabric
rectly. Remove one or two clothespins enough to cover both sides of a surface. was stitched in place. If your airplane
at a time, brush a swath of cement to Orientation of the weave of the fabric has a cambered bay, be sure you retain
the structure or, even better, to the edge may be parallel in either direction. One the contour in some way .
of the fabric itself, press the fabric firmly edge of the surface, leading or trailing
onto the frame and rub enough to insure edge will usually be a straight line or (to be continued next month)
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15
by E. E. "Buck" Hilbert
(EAA 21 , AlC 5)
W. D. "Dip" Davis is my airplane
friendly LA. and a lifelong advocate of
anything that flies .
Familiar to many EAAers are the
many and varied antique, classic and
warbird aircraft Dip has directly or indi-
rectly maintained to "Airworthiness
Standards" to fulfill the "keep 'em flyin"
motto. Warbirds especially will recall the
Grumman F3F that our editor, Gene
Chase, flew a few years back, the Cliff
Robertson Spitfire, and the Fork Ton-
gued Devil , Bill Ross' P-38.
Presently the antique and classi c
aficionados around this part of the
country know exactly where to find Dip
whenever there is a problem or ques-
tion. They just pick up the phone and
call Dip at Cooper Aviation Supply
Company in Elk Grove Village, Illinois
where he is head "stick and rag" man.
I think at times that Dip only took that
job so he could keep tabs on everybody
and anybody who has an airplane. That
WADS line runs long after his eight
hours are up, keeping tabs on what's
what in the airplane world.
Dip is equally at home talkin' airliners,
Fleets, Cessnas, Ercoupes or anything
with wings. His personal recollections
are backed up with reams of manuals
and facts that have accumulated in his
Photo by Buck Hilbert
Dip Davis - about to begin the annual inspection of Buck
Hilbert's Aeronca Champ.
personal library over the many years. I
sincerely believe he has every issue of
Trade-A-Plane ever printed. He tells me
they were awfully hard to hang onto out
in rural Iowa where he comes from. The
Sears catalog went first, then Trade-A-
Plane out there in the outhouse.
Dip worked for Lockheed at the be-
ginning of WW II and was involved with
the construction of the P-38. From there
he gravitated into the Air Force as an
aircraft mechanic and maintenance
crew member. He was based in Texas
for a little while where he worked on all
sorts of airplanes until Northwest Air
Lines hired him to come back to work
in Chicago. The Big Iron birds just didn't
personalize like the little ones, so he
dropped in on Fox Valley Aviation at the
old St. Charles (Illinois) Airport. That's
where I met him back in 1960. He was
the only guy on the airport who'd help
me with that decrepit PT-23 I was flying,
and he did it for fun too, because I sure
didn't have the money to pay him.
Others will remember Dip as the head
honcho at Galt Airport at Wonder Lake,
Illinois for many years. There was al-
ways a collection of odd airplanes com-
ing and going for Dip to look at and fly .
Anything from banner towing L-5s to
Ryan PTs and STAs, Waco UPFs,
Cessna 195s, Cubs, T-Crafts, Airknoc-
kers, AT-6s and a whole gamut of
"spam" cans and milk stools. The coffee
shop did a whale of a business just
cleaning up after the bull sessions that
everyone enjoyed so much , especially
Dip!
The DuPage (Illinois) Airport got him
back again when Bill Ross asked him
to come to work for him. He worked on
quite an assortment of warbirds for Bill.
He also worked on warbirds for others
when Bill Ross became President of the
Warbirds Division and the members
found out about Dip's talent.
Dip even had a try at the aircraft sal-
vage business for a while. He worked
for an outfit called Sunstream Aircraft at
DuPage. I don't think he particularly
cared for tearing them apart, though,
because the next thing I knew he was
workin' for Cooper. It didn't take them
long to realize this guy knew his
airplanes and also knew a lot of people
who owned them. He did such a great
job they elevated him to the position he
has now. Any question about any an-
tique or classic airplane is referred di-
rectly to Dip.
Dip not only talks a great airplane,
but he does an excellent job of flying
them, too. He is on my insurance
policies and has flown everything I've
ever had, including the little Porterfield
LP and my Aeronca C-3. He's one of
the few who was allowed to fly Mr. Fleet
when I had him .

<3I-I...A..Z:E
po\\sh &
For the
products.
VINTAGE SEAPIANES
Photo by Norm Petersen
"On the step" is Kirk Erickson (EAA 93181) of 1511 N. 7th Ave. E., Duluth, MN 55805 in his Luscombe 8E, N17UB, SIN 5947,
mounted on PK 1500 floats. This 1948 model Luscombe was converted to 150 hp Lycoming circa 1965 by Steve Wittman and
Bill Brennand of Oshkosh, WI.
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Center's staff
uses RACE GLAZE EAA Price: $9.95 per bottle
to preserve and
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protect the
Above prices include shipping for Continental U.S.A. Only.
museum's price-
Send $9.95 for each 16 oz. bottle or save an extra $3.95 per bottle and send $72.00
less collection of
for each case of 12 - 16 oz. bottles to:
aircraft.
EAA Wittman Airfield. Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086
Wisconsin Residents Add 5% Sales Tax
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17
~ Ittisnmann's Jtfokkr
D-VIIF
Bob Eisenmann and his full scale replica WW I fighter. The large size of the Fokker is
evident here.
Story and photos by Dick Cavin
WW I historians dutifully recorded the
arrival at the front of a new type German
military aircraft, the Fokker D-VII. Al-
though it came on the scene too late in
the war to help the German cause ap-
preciably, it quickly acquired a reputa-
tion as a formidable opponent.
Supposedly it was designed by the
brilliant Reinhold Platz, even though
Tony Fokker took credit for it, since it
originated in his Flugwerks. Which man
designed it doesn't really matter much
today, but the fact remains that it was
a rugged machine that aerodynamically
and structurally was ahead of its con-
temporaries.
Although accurate information on the
D-VII has been hard to come by over
the years, a few hardy builders in the
U.S have built very accurate looking
replicas after spending a great deal of
time and effort researching the project
prior to starting construction.
The D-VII is a rather large biplane,
even by today's standards. It sits up on
its main gear at a rather high angle, with
its large wheels a little farther forward
than today's airplanes. This makes it
more resistant to nose-over tendency
when landing on soggy, unimproved
pastures that served as improvised
temporary airfield in WW I. This ar-
rangement also applied more weight on
the tail skid, which was an essential de-
celeration device inasmuch as wheel
brakes hadn't come on the scene as
yet.
The designer had to add a rather
large horizontal tail for the D-VII to over-
come the heavy tail skid weight while
18 SEPTEMBER 1986
taxiing. To make taxi turns it was S.O.P.
to add a large burst of power as the
pilot put the stick full forward . Today
these taxi techniques have become a
lost art to all but a few. Too much power
and you could ground loop, wiping out
the gear and probably a wing tip. Too
little power and you could peel the tail
skid and not get around the turn, and
perhaps run into something as well.
The D-VII gear is unique in itself. The
wheel-to-wheel spreader bar is neatly
enclosed in an airfoil, which generates
a surprising amount of lift. With the big
wheels acting as end plates the pilots
could definitely feel it when they got
down into ground effect on landing. The
little wing also acted as a transverse
beam to strengthen the gear against the
frequent side loads. It was also used to
carry an auxiliary fuel tank in some ver-
sions.
Probably anticipating that there
would be a large number of gear "wipe
outs" in front line action, the designer
designed fittings that made it quick and
easy to put a new gear in place and get
the plane back in service rapidly. Be-
cause the airplane sits up pretty high on
a fairly narrow gear, it tends to be on
the top heavy side. The massive wings
aren't light, so the vertical center of
gravity is higher than average, which is
accentuated by a larger than usual gap
between the wings. Supposedly this
was done to minimize interference in
downwash between the two wings,
thereby improving efficiency.
Apparently the D-VII used all these
fine designer niceties to good advan-
tage as it could show its heels pretty
well for the 150 hp it started out with,
hitting 125 mph straight and level. The
Mercedes engines were boosted to
170, 180 and finally 200 hp at the war's
end, making it even more potent.
At Sun 'n Fun '86 at the very end of
the row of exhibit buildings, you'll find a
unique area that's out of the
mainstream of foot traffic. Big trees form
a good photographic back drop for the
exotic airplanes that congregate there.
This year there was a Fokker D-VII on
display beside the rare DeHavilland
DH-5 (that was reported on in Sport Avi-
ation). This D-VII had come over from
nearby Clearwater, Florida where the
builder, Robert Eisenmann, lives.
I happened to be there when Bob
taxied up and was privileged to have a
private little chat with him before the D-
VII was swarmed by the crowd of curi-
ous ones (that always descend en
masse when a different looking bird ar-
rives) .
He saw me grinning a little as I was
looking on a pretty fair amount of new
looking oil that streaked the cowl and
belly. When I asked, "Ranger?" he
laughed and said, "Yup. Guess you've
spent sometime around Rangers, huh?"
He said he now had around 42 hours
on it and was still breaking it in. It is the
same series inverted Ranger that was
used in PT-19s, developing 175 hp.
There are still a fair amount of these
engines on the surplus market and they
are reasonable in price in most cases.
Bob says he majored the engine and
put in the domed pistons that boosted
horsepower to 200 (against the advice
of some experienced heads) . He said
his trouble began with those pistons,
which raised the compression ratio too
high. By the time he had 10 hours on it
he had burned through two cylinders,
causing a forced landing at St.
Petersburg, fortunately with no dam-
age.
That was the end of the domed pis-
tons and the 200 hp. Out they came
and back in went the flat head ones.
The engine runs very nicely now and he
has had no real trouble with it during
the break-in period, except that it was
throwing oil pretty badly. Bob said that
with the oil bath inverted engine you put
in as little oil as possible, or else most
of it is thrown out on the airplane. Con-
sequently you put in a small amount,
make your flights of as short duration
as possible and try to arrive with a one-
hour reserve of oil.
Bob said he couldn't tell too much dif-
ference in the way the airplane flew with
either engine. Maybe a little better rate
of climb with 200 hp, but the top speed
is about the same. He has a Sensenich
wood prop on it that's identical to the
ones used on the PT-19 and apparently
it's matched very well to the D-Vll's de-
sign performance. He paid $350 for it
10 years ago and would probably pay
twice that much for it now.
Bob is a retiree from the USMC and
he said his interest in the O-VII jellod
about 14 or 15 years ago when he was
casting about for an interesting airplane
he could fly and really have fun with.
His research began shortly thereafter
and three and one-half years went by
before he felt he had enough accurate
information to start the project. Plans
were practically non-existent. In most
cases they were little better than simple
sketches. A surprising amount of accu-
rate data came from early day model
builders' magazines. Sketches and
drawings in some of those publications
made it possible to scale out certain
missing dimensions with a high degree
of accuracy.
Construction began 10 years ago,
Bob said. He bit off the hardest part to
chew right off the bat, the wing spars.
In case you have never seen them,
there are spars and there are O-VII
spars, and that's not much of an exagg-
eration. They are basically box spars,
with a multitude of tapered laminations,
requiring a Rube Goldberg jig set up to
accommodate the complicated tapering
involved. Bob said all those carefully
shaped pieces and laminations took
him 2-1 /2 years. The curse of wood air-
craft building is having to rig so many
clamps to apply proper gluing pressure
and then waiting overnight for the glue
to dry.
Bob and I found we had a mutual
friend when I mentioned that the late
Gordon Gabbert built a O-VII a few
doors away from my hangar at Addison,
Texas. His O-VII took 8 years and I fully
appreciated the frustration and patience
required to build those wings.
An interesting aspect on those wings
became more or less common informa-
tion after WW I was over. The Fokker
O-VII was designed as a cantilever wing
biplane, with no interplane struts or ex-
ternal bracing, hence those massive
spars. Jafstaffel pilots, including von
Richtofen, refused to fly the O-VII until
struts were added. As expected, the in-
terplane struts and external bracing
cost the O-VII over 12 mph. The spars
were made even further complicated in
order to enable the various fittings to be
attached.
I had watched Gordon agonize over
building the ribs for the O-VII and these,
too, were unbelievably time consuming.
Every one was completely different.
You couldn't just make 2 identical ribs
and use one on the left and the other
on the right , as each rib had both
cathedral and dihedral , so a separate
jig had to be made for each rib. The
only ones the same were those on the
upper center section. (Yes it had a
lower center section, too). It brought
back memories when Bob told me
about building that wing. Gordon often
called it "the monster." A lesser person
fully retiring to a sanitarium.
The airfoil is highly cambered. Bob
said he didn't really realize how much
until he did the rib stitching and pulled
the covering tight to the ribs. About the
only "standard" wing construction was
the internal drag/anti-drag bracing via
wires and turnbuckles, an add-on fea-
ture along with the struts.
Bob has a 6.5 gal. reserve fuel tank
in the upper wing, which augments the
32 gal. main tank in the fuselage. Since
the Mercedes engine was quite a little
heavier than the Ranger, it takes some
extra lead in the engine room to balance
things out. I remember Gordon stuffed
the crankshaft full of lead and moved
his tank forward some to combat the
problem.
Bob covered his O-VII with Ceconite
and finished it out with Stits coatings,
which he praises highly. It is basically
white, with black markings and crosses,
a duplicate of Herman Goering's O-VII
paint scheme. He has a German lan-
guage placard on each side that reads
empty weight (1450 Ibs.), pay load (400
Ibs.), and gross weight (1850 Ibs.) Bob
said that with ammunition the gross
weight would hit 2,000 Ibs. I noted that
Bob's N number was N11 VO and asked
if he got kidded about it. All the time he
said. Actually the number is O-VII back-
wards, he explained.
Bob welded up the fuselage himself,
building a jig first , of course. He made
everything on the airplane and said it
truly was an education every step of the
way.
He used Stearman wheels and
brakes, which he says are very ineffec-
tive. The big tail wheel is from a Cessna
180 and is steerable, but he says that
when it gets cocked to the left that it
takes full power to snap it out. The orig-
inal had only two cross cables and they
have already let go with him once and
when that happens the gear goes, too.
When asked how it handled in a
crosswind, Bob answered "lousy." Our-
ing a landing at Myrtle Beach when very
low on fuel, the sock was standing
straight out 90 degrees to the runway.
He had to land and while rolling out from
a good landing a big gust picked him up
again and there went the gear. That
episode required a full day of welding.
WW I pilots didn't often have that
problem. They always flew off large sod
fields and landed and took off into the
wind. Bob says he always pins the tail
down tight on both take offs and land-
ings, as it has insufficient rudder at low
speeds. As a result, it doesn't even slip
very well, he said.
The airplane is extremely blind with
the guns installed, but even so he ordi-
narily three-points it to get the tail wheel
steerage. It does do very nice wheel
landings though, he added. He makes
what is a very close in carrier approach
from downwind, a continuous turn to
just before touchdown.
Bob's done about everything with it
aerobatically and he says it does every-
thing okay, although sloppily. He's done
loops, rolls, spins, split-s', Chandelles
and Immelmans with it. It spins great to
the left, but wants to spiral out to the
right.
Bob has a WW I false instrument
panel that he hangs in front of the reg-
ular modern panel when he puts it on
display. I remember Gordon Gabbert's
O-VII also had a dummy panel for dis-
play. Bob said he made his from tin can
bottoms, etc.
Asked if he would bring it to Oshkosh
he said, "No way." It's just not a cross
country airplane. He ferried this one
from New Jersey when he moved to
Florida and that trip was a little too ad-
venturous - even for an ex-Marine who
craved adventure with his own
sportplane!
So I guess Oshkosh goers will have
to do without seeing Bob's O-VII until
next year at Sun 'n Fun. In the mean-
time if you happen to be in the Phoenix
area, you can see Gordon's blood red
O-VII at the Champlin Fighter Museum
at Falcon Field, Mesa, Arizona. If you
get the urge to build one, look at it very
closely and then ask yourself, "Have I
got the 'right stuff' to build one of
these?"
would have thrown in the towel six
Bob chose Herman Goering's white paint scheme for his Fokker replica. Power is a 175
months into the wing building, peace-
hp Ranger.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19
~ I ~ y p ClubActivities
Aeronca Aviator'sClub-
A Divisionof Pea Patch Airlines
Julie &Joe Dickey
511 Terrace Lake Road
Columbus,IN 47201
812/342-6878
Newsletter: 4 times ayear AAC
4times ayear PPA
Dues:$12 annually AAC
$12 annually PPA
Aeronca Club
Augie and Pat Wegner
143228th Court
Kenosha,WI 53140
414/552-9014
Newsletter:3-4 per year
Dues $3 per year
Aeronca Lover'sClub
Buzz Wagner
Box 3,401 1st St. East
Clark,SD 57225
605/532-3862
Newsletter:Quarterly
Dues:$15 per year
Aeronca Sedan Club
Richard Welsh
2311 East Lake Sammamish PI. ,S.E.
Issaquah,WA 98027
Newsletter:3 per year
Dues:$3.50 peryear
AirForceHistorical Foundation
Col. Louis H.Cummings,USAF (Ret. )
Bldg.1413,Room 120
Andrews AirForce Base,MD 20331
301/981-4728
Newsletter:Aerospace Historian
Dues:Individual Membership - $25.
American AirRacing Society
Rudy Profant
4060 W.158th Street
Cleveland,OH 44135
Newslet1er:Quarterly
Dues:$10 peryear
BellancaClub
Larry D'Attilio and Pam Foard
1820N. 166th St.
Brookfield,WI 53005
414/784-0318
Dues: $18.00 peryear
BirdAirplaneClub
Jeannie Hill
P.O. Box 328
Harvard, IL 60033
815/943-7205
Newslet1ers:2-3 annually
Dues:Postage Donation
International Bird Dog Association
Phil Phillips
3939 C-8 San Pedro,N.E.
Albuquerque,NM 87110
505/881-7555
20SEPTEMBER 1986
Complied by Gene Chase
1986 Type Club Annual Listing
Newsletters: Quarterly
Dues:$25 per year
American Bonanza Society
Cliff R. Sones,Administrator
Mid-Continent Airport
P. O.Box 12888
Wichita,KS 67277
316/945-6913
Newsletters: Monthly
Dues:$25 per year (U.S.& Canada)
$45 per year (Foreign)
Twin Bonanza Association
Richard I. Ward,Director
19684 Lakeshore Drive
Three Rivers, MI 49093
616/279-2540
Newslet1ers:Quarterly
BuckerClub
John Bergeson,SecretarylTreasurer
6438 W.Millbrook Road
Remus, MI49340
517/561-2393
Newsletter:6 peryear
CessnaAirmasterClub
GarWilliams
9 South 135 Aero Drive
Naperville, IL 60565
Newslet1er:None
Dues:None
Cessna Pilots Association
John Frank,Executive Director
Mid-Continent Airport
P. O.Box 12948
Wichita,KS 67277
316/946-4777
Newslet1er:Monthly
Dues: $25 annually
InternationalCessna120/140Association
Dorchen Forman
Box 92
Richardson,TX 75080
817/497-4757
Newslet1er: Monthly
Dues:$10 peryear U.S.
Cessna 150/152 Club
Skip Carden,Executive Director
P. O.Box 15388
Durham,NC 27704
919/471-9492
Newslet1er:Monthly
Dues:$20.00 per year
InternationalCessna170ASSOCiation,Inc.
Velvet Fackeldey, Executive Secretary
P.O. Box 186
Hartville,MO 65667
Newsletter:Fly Paper (11 per year)
The 170 News (Quarterly)
Dues: $15 peryear
International Cessna 180/185Club,Inc.
Charles Bombardier,President
4539 N.49th Avenue Phoenix,AZ 85031
Newslet1er :9or 10 per year
Dues:$10 peryear
Eastern 190/195 Association
Cliff Crabs
25575 Butternut Ridge Road
North Olmsted,OH 44070
216/777-4025or
216/777-9500,ext. 2780
Newsletters:Irregular
Dues:$10 per year
International 195 Club
Dwight M. Ewing,President
P.O.Box 737
Merced,CA 95341
209/722-6283
Newslet1er:4 per year
Dues:$20 per year (U.S. & Canada)
West CoastCessna 120/140Club
DonnaChristopherson,Treasurer
451 Bellwood Drive
SantaClara,CA 95054
408/988-9506
Newsletters:Bi-monthly
Dues:$10 peryear
Corben Club
Bob Taylor, Newsletter Publisher
P.O.Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
515/938-2773
Dues:$8 per year
CubClub
John Bergeson,Chairman
P. O. Box 2002
Mt. Pleasant ,MI 49340
517/561-2393
Newsletters: 6 per year
Dues: $10 per year (U.S.), $15 per year
(Canada)
CulverClub
Larry Low,Chairman
60 Skywood Way
Woodside,CA94062
415/851-0204
Newsletter:None
Dues:None
Dart Club
Lloyd Washburn
3958 Washburn Drive
Pt. Clinton, OH 43452
Newsletter:Now and Then
Dues: None
DeHaviliand Moth Club
GerrySchwam,Chairman
1021 Serpentine Lane
Wyncote, PA 19095
215/635-7000or 215/886-8283
Newsletter: Quarterly
Dues:$10 peryear (U.S. & Canada)
De Havilland MothClubofCanada
A. deHavillandTed Leonard,Founder& Di -
rector
305 Old Homestead Road
Keswick,Ontario
Canada L4P 1E6
416/476-4225
Newsletter:Periodically
Dues: $15 annually
ErcoupeOwners Club
Skip Carden, Executive Director
Box 15058
Durham,NC 27704
919/471-9492
Newsletters: Monthly,with special editions
Dues:$20 peryear
Fairchild Club
John Berendt, President
7645 Echo Point Road
Cannon Falls,MN 55009
507/263-2414
Newsletters:Semi-annual
Dues:$8.00 for 4issues
International Flying Farmers
Kyle Ann Stream,Executive Director
2120 Airport Road,P.O.Box 9124
Wichita,KS 67277
316/943-4234
Newsletters:10 issues peryear
Dues:$35 peryear U.S.funds pluschapter
dues
FunkAircraftOwnersAssociation
G. Dale Beach,Editor
1621 Dreher Street
Sacramento,CA 95814
916/443-7604
Newsletter:10 issuesperyear
Dues:$12 per year
Great Lakes Club
Bob Taylor,NewsletterPublisher
P. O. Box 127
Blakesburg,IA 52536
515/938-2773
Dues: $10 peryear
HatzClub
Bob Taylor,Newsletter Publisher
P.O.Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
515/938-2773
Dues:$8 per year
Heath Parasol Club
Bill Schlapman
643fPauison Road
Winneconne, WI 54986
414/582-4454
Newsletter:Annually
Dues: Postage donation
LiHle Round EngineFlyer
Ken Williams,Chairman
331 East Franklin Street
Portage, WI 53901
ContactWilliams for further information
Continental LuscombeAssociation
Loren Bump,President
5736 Esmar Road
Ceres, CA 95307
209/537-9934
Newsletter:Bi-monthly (6 peryear)
Dues: $10 (U.S.),$12.50 (Canada)
$15 (Foreign)
LuscombeAssociation
John Bergeson,Chairman
6438 W.Millbrook Road
Remus,MI 49340
517/561-2393
Newsletter:6per year
Dues: $10 per year (U.S.) $15 per year
(Canada)
MeyersAircraftOwners Association
Jacquel ine Merrihew,Secretary
199 S.Washington Street
Sonora,CA 95370
209/532-2826
Newsletter:4-5 per year
Dues:Postage contributions
Mustang International
Paul Coggan,President
19 Esmonde Gardens,Bishopmill
Elgin,Morayshire,Scotland IV30 2LB
Newsletter:4 issues peryear
Dues:$18 U.S.
American NavionSociety
A.A. Cardano,Chairman of the Board
Gerry Bright,Executive Secretary
Box 1175 Municipal Airport
Banning,CA 92220
714/849-2213
Newsletter:Monthly
Dues: $25 peryear
OX-5 Aviation Pioneers
Oliver V.Phillips,National Secretary
10405W. 32 Avenue
Wheat Ridge,CO 80033
303/233-5905
Dues:$10per year
International Pietenpol Association
P. O.Box 127
Blakesbu,rg,IA 52536
515/938-2773
Dues:$8 peryear
Porterfield Airplane Club
Chuck Lebrecht
1019 Hickory Road
Ocala, FL 32672
904/687-4859
Dues:$5 peryear
Rearwin Club
Bob Taylor,Newsletter Publisher
P. O.Box 127
Blakesburg,IA 52536
515/938-2773
Dues:$8 per year
Rearwin and Commonwealth Flyers
GaryVan Farowe
6724 Van Buren
Hudsonville,MI 49426
616/399-4623
Newsletter:None
Dues: None
National Ryan Club
Bill J. Hodges,Chairman
811 Lydia
Stephenville,TX 76401
817/968-4818
Dues:$10 peryear
Replica FightersAssociation
Frank G.Weatherly
2789 Mohawk Lane
Rochester,MI 48063
313/651-7008
Newsletter: Bi-monthly
Dues:$10per year
Seaplane PilotsAssociation
Mary F.Silitch, Executive Director
421 Aviation Way
Frederick, MD 21701
301 /695-2083
Newsletter:Water Flying (Quarterly)
Water Flying Annual
SPA Seaplane Landing Directory - $6
Dues: $28 per year
ShortWing PiperClub, Inc.
Larry D.Smith, MembershipChairman
2022 Concord Drive
Camden,SC 29020-9516
803/432-5943
Newsletter:Bi-monthly
Dues:$25 peryear
SilverWingsFraternity
Aviation Pathfinders
Russ Brinkley, President
P. O.Box 11970
Harrisburg,PA 17108
717/232-9525
Newsletter:Slipstream Tabloid Newspaper
Dues:$5 peryear
Spartan School of Aeronautics Alumni
Association
Karla Morrow,Executive Secretary
8820 E.Pine Street
Tulsa, OK 74115
918/836-6886
Dues:$10 annually
Staggerwing Club
Jim Gorman, President
1885Millsboro Road
Mansfield,OH 44906
419/529-3822 (home)419/755-1011 (office)
Dues:$15 peryear
Stearman Restorers Association
Tom Lowe
823 Kingston Lane
Crystal Lake,IL 60014
815/459-6873
Newsletter:4-6 peryear
Dues:$10 per year
National Stinson Club
Jonsey Paul
14418 Skinner Road
Cypress,TX 77429
Dues: $7.50
NortheastStinsonFlyingClub
Dick Bourque, President
8Grimes Brook Road
Simsbury, CT06070
Newsletter:The Newsletter
Dues:$5 per year
SouthwestStinson Club
Carroll J. Poe,President
177 Chateau LaSalle Drive
San Jose, CA 95111
408/280-0935
Newsletter:10 per year
Dues:$10 peryear
InternationalSwiftAssociation
Charlie Nelson
P.O.Box 644
Athens,TN 37307
615/745-9547
Newsletter:Monthly
Dues: $25 peryear
SuperCub PilotsAssociation
Jim Richmond, Founderand Director
P.O.Box 9823
Yakima,WA 98909
(Continuedon Page28)
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 21
TheGener
by Gene Chase
The General Aristocrat Model 102-A
was not a particularly handsome aircraft
but its excellent flight characteristics
more than made up for that. Its type
certificate number 117 was issued in
March 1929 to the General Airplanes
Corp. in Buffalo, New York.
The 3-place model 102-A was pow-
ered with the Warner of 110 hp and at
least 26 were manufactured. Later ver-
sions, the models 102-E and 102-F
were powered with the 165 Wright J6-5
and the Continental A-70 of 165 hp re-
spectively.
The only known example of a Gen-
eral Aristocrat flying today is NC278H,
SIN 20 owned by the Antique Airplane
Corporation of Blakesburg, Iowa. It was
restored by well-known antiquer Franny
Rourke and the accompanying photos
were taking at his shop on 6/21 /86 at
Phillips Field, Bartlesville, Oklahoma.
Newly restored NC278H is powered by
a 220 hp Continental de-rated to 165 hp
and re-designated a Model 102-F.
These models were issued a Group 2
Approval no. 232 on 7-3-30. By the time
this article gets into print, Franny will
have delivered it to AAA President Bob
Taylor at Blakesburg. Bob selected the
blue and yellow colors, however the
paint scheme is authentic
General Aristocrats made front page
news on May 18, 1929 when General
Tires (now GenCorp) of Akron, Ohio an-
nounced they were buying a fleet of
eight of the planes for a 50,000 mile
tour of the U.S., Canada and Mexico.
Photo by George Goodhead
The newly restored 1929 General Aristocrat, NC278H, at Phillips Field, Bartlesville, Ok-
lahoma. Wiley Post flew his famous Lockheed Vega "Winnie Mae" out of this field.
Needing pilots with formation experi- Antarctic expeditions (see Joe Jupt-
ence the company contacted Major ner's U.S. Civil Aircraft, Vol. Two).
Ralph Boyce of Selfridge Field in Michi- Following are specifications and per-
gan who saw the value for his fliers and formance of the Model 102-E as pow-
released 8 lieutenants from active duty ered with the 165 hp Wright which
to pilot the Aristocrats. should closely match those of NC278H:
The tour of the "Sky Fleet" started in
June, 1929 at Akron and headed east Wing Span ... .. ...... . ... 36' 8"
to the coast, south to Florida, then west Length ..... . ............ 26' 6"
to complete its circuit of the U.S. Side Empty Wt. . . . . . . . . . . . .. 1524 Ibs.
trips included stops in Mexico and Gross Wt. ....... . .. .. . 2300 Ibs.
Canada with the tour ending in Akron Fuel Capacity . . . . . . . . . . . 40 gals.
four months later on October 15. Max. Speed ............ 128 mph
Another item of interest is that a Gen- Cruise Speed ... ..... . .. 110 mph
eral Aristocrat was donated to Com. Landing Speed . . . . . . . . . .. 48 mph
Richard E. Byrd for use on one of his Service ceiling . . ... . . .. 16,700 ft.
Photo by George Goodhead Photo by Sam Hockett
This three-quarter rear view highlights the airfoil shape of the The company logo also appears just ahead of the cabin doors.
fuselage top.
22 SEPTEMBER 1986
1Aristocrat
The tail markings include the General
Airplanes Corp. logo.
(L-R) Franny Rourke, restorer of the Aris-
tocrat and Sam Hocket (EAA 4754, AlC
5401) of Tulsa, Oklahoma. The relatively
large size of the plane is evident here.
Photo by Sam Hockett
The easily accessible oil filler is shown
above George Goodhead (EAA 3603, AlC
5176) of Tulsa, Oklahoma.)
Photo by Sam Hockett
The General Aristocrat in Franny Rourke's shop. {Note Kinner Fleet and OX-5 Bird at right.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23
--24th dl-nnuat----------------
DENTONFLY--IN
by Dick Cavin
(Photos by author, except as noted)
Last year the CAF scheduled their air
show at Denton, Texas on the regular
fly-in date of the Texas Chapter AAA
Fly-in (who graciously moved their date
to a week later). The CAF had a com-
mitment from the Blue Angels for only
that particular date, so rather than trying
to combine two entirely different types
of fly-ins, the two separate dates were
agreed on. Despite some fears that the
Dave Harrison's Luscombe 8E, N2368K, received the Best Classic Light award.
24 SEPTEMBER 1986
CAF show a week earlier might dilute
things for the AAA Fly-In, the 1985
event was a howling success.
The Denton Fly-In had some more
big league competition this year, but
again the event showed it has a special
charm all its own that seems to just mow
down such competition. 1986 is the
Sesquicentennial year for the State of
Texas. To properly celebrate the occa-
sion, a five-star aviation week was
planned for the week of June 8 through
15. The media hoopla was a torrent of
superlatives for the extravaganza, with
the star of the show being the Con-
corde. It truly was a powerful drawing
card, just as it was at Oshkosh '85.
The Sesquicentennial affair's promot-
ers were aiming the show strictly at the
non-flying public. The word soon got
around that they weren't much in-
terested in more than a token represen-
tation of antiques, homebuilts and the
like. Waco's former James Connally
AFB was the site of the week long cel-
ebration and its huge ramp area could
have held hundreds of aircraft from the
sport, antique and general aviation sec-
tor and all forms of Texas aviation could
have benefitted. Such was not the case,
though.
The icy and aloof treatment at Waco
might even have backfired on what
could have been a super show, as the
private pilot clan stayed away in droves,
coming to Denton instead. Many were
incensed, too, that they had to divert to
Waco's airline airport and ride a bus to
Connally. Some of those arriving at Den-
ton said they were planning to make
both events, but skipped Waco when
they got the word.
"Denton," in the parlance of pilots, re-
storers and builders translates to the
annual Texas Chapter AAA Fly-In. It
has become such an institution (like
Oshkosh) that the world "Denton"
means that fly-in. This year was the
24th straight year for the event. Each
year it draws planes and pilots from far
off places, even though you'll rarely find
it listed among lists of "coming events"
in aviation publications.
As a matter of fact, the Texas Chap-
ter that sponsors the event tries to keep
it very low key. They put the el nixo on
a lot of advance media coverage (that
always brings out throngs of idly curious
people with very little respect or ap-
Photo by M. R. Baas
Newly restored e s s n ~ UC-78, N30L owned by Alex Whitmore, Justin Time Airfield.
preciation for the fine airplanes of yes-
teryear) .
Another interesting sidelight of the
Denton Fly-In is the way that the current
year's entrants replace those of preced-
ing years, so each year there is a whole
"new" crop of display airplanes (if you 'll
pardon the expression). This is true to
some extent in all big fly-ins, but espe-
cially so at Denton.
A pair of DeHaviliand Tiger Moths from the Houston, Texas area. The one on the right,
owned by Robbie Jewett, won Best Open Cockpit Antique honors as well as the Greatest
Distance - Open Cockpit award.
Photo by M. R. Baas
Customized 1947 Cessna 140, NC2154N, SI N 12390, owned by Gordon Bourland of Fort
Worth, Texas. It received the Cessna 120/140 award.
Although Denton is primarily a fly-in
for antiques, classics and restoration
types, it also caters to replicas and
homebuilts. Various types of warbirds
are also an important part of the
scheme of things, with examples of both
WW I and WW II craft making the scene
in past years, with both U.S. and vari -
ous foreign designs represented .
One sad note this year was the loss
of one of the members, Bob Ralston, of
nearby Slidell , Texas, who lost his life
in an accident on the initial test flight of
a WW I Fokker Eindecker replica. A de-
dicated homebuilder of WW I replicas,
Bob had accumulated a hangar full of
these airplanes in his own aerodrome
and was planning on having the Ein-
decker on display at Denton this year.
We'll miss him.
Denton is ordinarily scheduled the 1 st
or 2nd weekend in June. Usually the
weather is absolutely perfect, like it was
this year, with bright sunshine and a
high of 85-90 degrees and just enough
of a breeze to make it really comforta-
ble. In some of the 15 or so fly-ins this
author has attended some of the last
gasp spring cold fronts have made it far
less than ideal fly-in weather. But, even
during those years of lousy flying condi-
tions there was always a surprisingly
large turn out. Some of the devotees
anticipated the weather and came in a
day or so early. One year in particular
I remember the ceiling never got above
400 ft. and yet I counted over 200
airplanes on the ground.
Such a successful fly-in wouldn't be
possible without the full cooperation of
the city fathers and the local FBOs.
Each year one of the big hangars is va-
cated to make room for the chapter's
folding chairs and tables. The hangar
also makes adequate room to accom-
modate a registration area, a book and
magazine stand, and beverage and
food concessions (operated by the
members). This provides an ideal spot
in the shade to rest weary bones and
have a social glass of bubbly with fellow
enthusiasts. In many ways it seems to
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25
be like a family reunion. Many of the
friendly faces are seen year after year
and looking around one can see pure
pleasure on those faces as they spot an
old friend.
Speaking of pleasure, while sitting
there in the hangar and looking out the
wide open door at the ramp, it was a
flashback to the fabulous days of avia-
tion to see the line up of airplanes
parked in a double row out front. In one
row was the Grand Champion Antique,
an OX-5 Travel Air 2000 by Donnie
Sharp of Pauls Valley, Oklahoma, fol-
lowed by a pair of beautifully finished
Beech Staggerwings, one yellow, one
red and both former award winners. The
Travel Air was also judged the best
Golden Age Trophy winner this year.
Facing them was a superbly restored
UIC Waco cabin powered by an R-670
Continental of 220 hp. This model is
unique in that it has a large rear vision
canopy (fixed) just aft of the rear seat
passengers. It was a favorite with a lot
of us in the late '30s. It was easy to fly
and handle on the ground and really
performed with the horsepower avail-
able. This one was red, with black spear
trim and silver wings. The wings were
100% strut braced (no wires) and the
four ailerons were part of making it a
pilot's joy to fly.
Sitting next to it was another red bip-
lane, another Travel Air with a 300
Lycoming in the uncowled nose, that
came from the fairy tale Justin Time
airstrip a few miles SW of Denton. At a
quick first glance, it always makes me
think of a J-5 Travel Air until I look back
at the engine. Next to it was another
Justin Time airplane, a newly restored
UC-78 in its military silver war paint.
This is another of Alex Whitmore's
growing collection of "un-new" aircraft.
On the other side of the Waco was a
massive looking Fairchild 24W by Fritz
Main of San Angelo, Texas. It was
judged the winner of the Best Classic
Heavy Title. Somehow it looked bigger
than a regular Warner Fairchild. Look-
John Bouteller, Tulsa, OK recently restored this 1940 Naval Aircraft Factory N3N-3,
N3NZ in U.S. Coast Guard colors.
This Stinson, N80F, was one of five at the fly-in.
ing closer we found he was hiding a big
245 Jake behind that shiny spinner and
big prop.
Seeing such a line-up on the ramp in
front of the big, old style hangar makes
it pretty easy to see why there is such
a large throng of aficionados when it
comes to appreciating these rare old
birds.
Out on the field one could see just
about every popular type from 20 to 50
years back. Most of them looked better
than when they were rolled out of the
factories. One I remember was an im-
maculate Monocoupe 90A, NC9424, a
1938 model with a Lambert 90 hp under
the beautifully bumped cowl. It looked
super sharp in those days and even
today there isn't an airplane design that
can touch it for graceful lines. This one
was Best Antique Cabin winner and
was fielded by Don Sharp, Paul 's Val-
ley, Oklahoma.
Another beautiful Waco there was
one I'd seen a few weeks earlier at Sun
'n Fun and was winner of the
Sweepstakes Cup, a 1941 Waco YPF-
7. It's powered with a 245 Jacobs, also.
Joe Roselle of Oklahoma city is the
lucky owner of this one. Not only is its
finish a real delight, but the same can
be said for its bumped cowl , a real work
of art.
There were a pair of outstanding
N3N-3s there, too. Often confused with
Stearmans, these Naval Aircraft Fac-
tory biplanes made fine primary trainers
in WW II. Their fuselages were built of
aluminum angle, riveted and bolted to-
gether. Metal panels on the fuselage
1933 Waco UIC, NC13570, SIN 3826 owned by Don Swindle, Collinsville, TX. This beau- were quickly removable for inspection
tiful aircraft received both the Ladies Choice and Texas Chapter Choice awards. (Continued on Page 28)
26 SEPTEMBER 1986
1939

by Dennis Parks
EAA Library/Archives Director
VINTAGE LITERATURE
(Part 1 of two parts)
This is the last in a series of articles
that takes a look at aviation and its liter-
ature in the '20s and '30s. The first co-
vered 1925, the second 1928 and this,
1939.
"Factories flooded with orders for new
airplanes are calling for thousands
more well trained mechanics." This line
from a 1939 ad (Lincoln Airplane & Fly-
ing School) reflects on one of the most
frantic periods in aviation. From the low
of the depression, aviation had taken
off again and all areas were on the up-
swing.
The decade of the 1930's saw the ac-
cumulation of previous technological
advances in aviation and despite the
1929 crash aviation continued to devel-
op, culminating in the advanced aircraft,
both civil and military of the late 1930s.
Innovations such as streamlining, flaps,
cowlings, retractable gear, variable
pitch propellers and new powerplant de-
signs came together in new stressed
skin metal construction to form an en-
tirely new generation of aircraft.
Designs such as the Boeing 247 and
Douglas DC-3 ushered in the demise of
the rag, tube and wire construction pre-
valent at the beginning of the decade.
By 1939 the new construction had be-
come the standard for military, transport
and general aviation aircraft.
This was also the era when the air-
lines came into their own. During 1939
the carriers had flown over 87,000,000
miles over 25,000 miles of airways with-
out a serious accident. About as much
flying was done at night as during the
day and at anyone moment about
3,000 persons were riding in an airliner
in the United States. This was also the
year that trans-Atlantic service began.
During this period the personal light
plane came into its own. More attention
was devoted to private flying than ever
before. Of the 31 ,264 pilots, 43 percent
had private certificates. With the Civilian
Pilot Training Program in operation,
thousands more would be joining the
ranks.
There was not only a large increase
in the number of pilots but also a large
increase in the number of aircraft being
manufactured with ove-r 3,000 produced
in 1939 compared to 1,300 in 1938.
Events
The year was one more of develop-
mental records than of the thrill seeking
record breaking done by individual ad-
venturers in the late 1920s. Many of the
records being broken were for load car-
rying capacity, a different emphasis
than earlier.
After 1929 the setting of endurance
records ceased, having become a day-
to-day reality with coast-to-coast flying
and the beginning of transoceanic
transportation. During 1939 Pan Amer-
ican Airways began trans-Atlantic pass-
enger service.
The first service was on the southern
route through the Azores beginning in
June. In July service was inaugurated
on the northern route through New-
foundland. Pan Am had previously
started service across the Pacifc in
1936.
Interest in the pioneering ocean
flights was evidenced by the fact that
the New York Times Index for 1939 had
three and one-half pages devoted to
that subject.
In contrast to the early 1930s when
the civilian ships were the fastest
(Benny Howard won the 1935 Bendix
at 220 mph at a time when the Army
P-12E was flying at 171 mph) , by 1939
the Army Air Corps held 6 world records
and 15 national records captured by
standard combat planes. In August a
B-17 set a new transcontinental record
of 250 mph. This was an amazing
speed seeing that in September the
Bendix was won by a Seversky fighter
at an average speed of 217 mph.
On the light plane front, in order to
demonstrate the reliability of these craft
as cross country machines, Johnny
Jones, an Aeronca dealer from Van
Nuys, California, flew non-stop across
America in an Aeronca powered by a
50 hp Continental engine. The trip was
done in 30 hr. 47 min. at an average
speed of 90.6 mph with a fuel cost of
$25.70.
Also, Harry B. Chapman, in an
Aeronca seaplane, powered with a 65
hp Continental engine, established a
world's distance record for light seap-
lanes in a 1,163.8 mile flight from
Jamaica Bay, NY to New Orleans.
Aircraft
There were 13,772 aircraft flying in
the United States in 1939. Of these,
7,412 were listed as seating five per-
sons or less, eighty percent of which
were two-place machines. The greatest
number of them were in California fol-
lowed by New York. Close to 6,000 air-
craft were manufactured during the year
which was less than in 1929 but this
was an increase of 61 percent over
1938. This number would double in
1940.
The typical new aircraft was a stres-
sed metal construction monoplane.
Examples of new transport designs
were the Douglas DC-4, Lockheed
Super Electra and the pressurized Boe-
ing Stratoliner. New generation general
aviation aircraft included the Beech 18,
Harlow PJC and the Spartan Executive.
At the lower end of the spectrum the
following aircraft had full-page ads in
AERO DIGEST: The Funk, "It Flies Like
an Airliner"; Luscombe "Record Break-
ing Speed"; Piper Cub "First in Favor"
Stinson 105 "For the Young in Heart";
and the Taylorcraft "It's the Odds-on
Choice".
Piper was the most popular light air-
craft with 1 ,608 registered at the begin-
ing of 1939. Not bad for a two-year-old
company. Next was Waco with 1,050
Another
CLEAN SWEEP
for
MONOCOUPE
F 0 U R OUT OF FOUR
EYEN TS EN TEREO
at the
MIAMI ALLAMERICAN AIR MANEUVERS
ad from AERO
DI GEST Ma rch. 19)9
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 27
aircraftandthirdwasAeroncawith853.
The increase in the number and
popularity of light planes was not due
to the large number of increases in
technology (only the Luscombe had
stressed metal construction) but mainly
in one area.Thatwasthe availabilityof
a compact, dependable engine. The
Continental A-50and othersimilarhori-
zontally opposed,four-cylinderengines
made the difference.
However there were problems with
the engines.Among them hand crank-
ing, roughness and noise. One article
on the future of the light plane engine
stated that if his car engine made as
much noise, "We'd junk it. " Another
problem was in parts prices.Thewriter
complained that ifone specifies'for air-
craftuse'itseemstoimmediatelyjustify
a100%increaseinpriceoverthesame
part for any other use.
The author was Carl T. Doman one
of the designers of Franklin air-cooled
engines.
Activities among the manufacturers
in 1939 included:Culver Aircraft being
formed to takeovermanufactureofthe
Dart Model "G"; Kinner sold the rights
to the "Sportster" and "Sportwing" to
Timm which moved into new factories
in Van Nuys,CA;NorthropAircraftwas
organized by Jack Northrop after re-
signing from Douglas; and Piper built
1,806 Cubs.
(To be continued next month)
(Continued from Page21)
509/248-9491
Newsletter:Monthly
Dues: $25 peryear U.S.
$35 peryear (Canada - Canadian)
T-6 Owners' Association
L. P."Stoney"& Kathy Stonich
2285 Oakvale Drive
Shingle Springs,CA95682
916/677-2456
Dues:$25 per year
TaylorcraftOwners Club
Bruce M. Bixler II , President
12809Greenbower Road
Alliance,OH 44601
216/823-9748
Dues:$10 per year
Travel AirClub
P.O. Box 127
Blakesburg,IA 52536
515/938-2773
Dues:$8 peryear
VintageSailplaneAssociation
Jim Harding, Secretary
ScottAirpark
Lovettsville,VA 22080
703/822-5504
28 SEPTEMBER 1986
24TH ANNUAL DENTON FLV-IN
(Continuedfrom Page 26)
and cleaning, a distinct advantage.
N3NZ, a 1940 model powered by a
WrightR-760,235hp,isownedbyJohn
Bouteller,Tulsa,Oklahomawhocarried
the Best MilitaryTrainertitle home with
him.
Alex Whitmore (Justin Time) also
brought in his Ford Model B powered
CorbenSuperAce,N17288,which was
the Judge's Choice (replica) .
Chuck Gruby from Houston took
home the Unique Open (Experimental)
award with his elegant Spezio Tuholer,
powered with a 180 hp Lycoming 0-
360. The top Unique-Cabin (Experi-
mental) award went to Doug and Terry
Knab'sJurco M-5 Sirocco.
Best Military Tactical was Gerald
Asher'sStinsonL-5G,N45AK,powered
by the venerable Lycoming 0-435 of
190 hp.
A pair of DH82A Tiger Moths from
Houston also made the scene, with
Robbie Jewett's 1947 version winning
Best Open Cockpit Antique honors as
well asthe Long Distanceaward (open
cockpit) .
Other winners were Dick Darnell 's
Stearman PT-17,areal beautythatwas
judged Best Classic Biplane; a Lus-
combe 8E by Dave Harrison,that was
the winner of Best Classic Light ; with
Marvin Bein's Luscombe 8F the Neo-
Classic Light winner; Bud Sutton's
Cessna 180 was tagged as the Neo-
Classic Heavy titlist; and the Cessna
120-140 award going to Gordon Bour-
land ofJustin Time.
A total of 208 exhibit aircraft at-
tended.
The social side of the Denton affair
makes the cup of pleasure run over. It
gets very thirsty out there and so the
troops refreshed on Friday nightwith a
happy hour, followed by 300 hungry
typesputtingawayenoughhamburgers
to feed a regiment ,with Chaptermem-
bersdoingallthecookingandserving.
On Saturday evening, the first an-
tique jet to make the fly-in, a DH112
Venom, slipped in. A Goblin-powered
Vampire was also scheduled to come,
butsomelastminuteglitchspoiledthat.
Another happy hour was held on
Saturday night, followed by a larrupin
Texas barbecue dinner for 281 happy
people.Awardswere presented by Na-
tional President Robert L. Taylor and
local President Homer Patterson.
On Sundaymorningthehardworking
Chapter members provided a sumptu-
ousfly-awaybreakfastin thehangarfor
those departingfor homeearly.Bylate
Sunday, chairs and tables were folded
upandreturnedtotheirpermanentstor-
age building at nearby Aero Valley Air-
port and the hangar put back in spic
and span condition. All hated to say
farewell and have to wait awhole year
before doing it again.
CALENDAR OF EVENTS
SEPTEMBER 6-7- MARION,OHIO- 21st An-
nual "MERFI" EAA Fly-In.Camping on airport
grounds.Contact:LouLindeman,3840Clover-
daleRoad, Medway,OH,phone513/849-9455
after 6:00 p.m.
SEPTEMBER 20-21 - KERRVILLE, TEXAS -
22nd Annual Kerrville Fly-In. Static displays,
daily aerobatic shows, forums, judging and
awards. All aircraft types welcome. Contact:
Kerrville Area Chamber of Commerce, Con-
vention and Visitor's Bureau, P. O. Box 790,
Kerrville, TX78028,phone 51 21896-1155.
SEPTEMBER26-28- BANDERA,TEXAS- 2nd
Annual Continental Luscombe Association,
TexasChapterFly-InatFlying"L"Ranch.Con-
tests,awards,familystylemeals.Contact:Ron
Carson,5121493-1031. .
SEPTEMBER27-28- BINGHAM,MAINE- 17th
Annual Gadabout Gaddis Fly-In at Gadabout
GaddisAirport.Contact:207/672-4100 or2071
672-5511.
OCTOBER 2-5 - PITTSBURGH, PENNSYL-
VANIA - 11th Annual International Cessna
120/1 40 AssociationConventionatButlerFarm
Show Airport - Roe, 4 miles west of city on
Detroit sectional.Contact: Mike Quinlan, Con-
Dues:$10 peryear
NationalWaco Club
Ray Brandly
700 Hill Avenue
Hamilton,OH 45015
Newsletter:Bi-monthly
Dues:$7.50 peryear
vention Chairman, 224 Lehr Avenue,
Pittsburgh,PA 15223,phone41 21781-4435.
OCTOBER 3-5- TAHLEQUAH,OKLAHOMA-
29th Annual Tulsa Fly-In sponsored by AlC
Chapter 1.0, lAC Chapter 10, AAA Chapter 2
and GreenCountry UltralightFlyers,Inc.Con-
tact:CharlesW.Harris,119EastFourthStreet,
Tulsa,OK 74103,phone918/585-1591.
OCTOBER 3-5- TAHLEQUAH,OKLAHOMA-
NationalBuckerClub6thAnnualFly- In,incon-
junctionwiththe29thAnnualTulsaFly-In.Con-
tact:FrankG.Price,Rt. 1,Box419,Moody,TX
76557, phone 817/853-2008.
OCTOBER 11-12- SUSSEX,NEWJERSEY-
EAATri-ChapterLibertyYearFly-insponsored
by Chapters73 and 238andAlCChapter7at
Sussex Airport. Static displayonly (this isnot
the annual air ShOW). Awards for outstanding
aircraft. Everyone welcome. Contact: Vearl
Lack, 20 Gervic, Flanders, NJ 07836, phone
201 /584-9553 (after6p.m.)
MARCH 15-21 - LAKELAND, FLORIDA -
13th Annual Sun 'n Fun EAA Fly-In.Contact:
Bonnie Higbie, P.O.Box 6750,Lakeland, FL
33807
WW IAeroplanes, Inc,
L. E.Opdycke, Director
15 Crescent Road
Poughkeepsie, NY 12601
914/473-3679
Newsl etter :5 per year
Dues:$20peryearfornewsletterandmem-
bership.
MEMBERSHIP
INFORMATION
EAA
Membership in the Experimental
Aircraft Association, Inc. is $30.00
for one year,$58.00 for2 years and
$84.00 for 3years.Allinclude 12is-
sues of Sport Aviation per year.
Junior Membership (under 19 years
of age) is available at $18.00 an-
nualTy. Family Membership is avail-
able for an additional $10.00
annually.
ANTIQUE/CLASSIC
EAA Member - $18.00. Includes
one year membership in EAA An-
tique-Classic Division, 12 monthly
issues ofThe VintageAirplaneand
membership card. Applicant must
beacurrentEAA memberandmust
give EAA membershipnumber.
NonEAA Member - $28.00. In
cludes one yearmembershipin the
EAA Anti que-Classic Divison, 12
monthlyissues ofThe Vintage Air
plane, one yearmembership in the
EAA and separate membership
cards.Sport Aviation notincluded.
lAC
Membership in the International
Aerobatic Club, Inc. is $25.00 an-
nually which includes 12 issues of
Sport Aerobatics. AlllACmembers
arerequiredto bemembersofEAA.
WARBIRDS
Membership in the Warbirds of
America, Inc. is $25.00 per year,
which includes a subscription to
Warbirds Newsletter.Warbirdmem-
bersarerequiredtobemembersof
EAA.
LIGHT PLANEWORLD
EAA membershipandLIGHTPLANE
WORLD magazine is available for
$25.00 peryear (SPORTAVIATlON
notincluded). CurrentEAA members
mayreceive LIGHTPLANEWORLD
for$15.00 peryear.
FOREIGN
MEMBERSHIPS
Pleasesubmityourremittancewith
a check ordraftdrawn ona United
States bank payable in United
States dol/ars or an international
postalmoneyordersimilarlydrawn.
Makecheckspayableto EAA orthe
divisi on in which membership is
desired.Address allletters to EAA
orthe particulardivision atthe fol-
lowing address:
WITTMANAIRFIELD
OSHKOSH, WI54903-3086
PHONE(414)426-4800
OFFICEHOURS:
8:30-5:00MON.-FRI.
THEJOURNALOF
THEEARLYAEROPLANE
Themostauthoritallve
journalon1lloseWonderful
flyingMachines1.900 1919
WORLDWAR I INC.
15CrescentRoad. Poughkeepsie. NY 12601. USA
A Once
In A Lifetime
Opportunity
SOPWITH CAMEL REPLICA
WITH ORIGINALWWI
GNOME ROTARY ENGINE
1929 FAIRCHILD KR-21
AUCTION - "AllNo Reserves"
ANTIQUEAIRCRAFT
GliderField, Boise, Idaho
Saturday,September20, 1986 - 10:00AM
1946 TaylorAerocar I 1910 Bleriot Replica 1930 Genairco
1941 Beech AT-11 1940 Cessna Airmaster 1931 Nicholas/ Beasley
1934 Dehavilland Dragon-Fly 1949 Consolidated-Vultee Travel Air6000
40 Antique Aircraft, Gliders & Sailplanes
Oneofthe Nation'sLargestCollections
Restored and Unrestored
150 Props, Library, 1,000'sofParts, 50 Engines
A Lifetime Collection Of Rare DesirableAntiqueAircraft
All Selling AtNoReserveToThe HighestBidder
Call ForFree ColorBrochure- 1-800-635-6700
Admission $5 - Bidder'sFee $40
ITTKRUSE INTERNATIONAL
Dean V. Kruse,Auctioneer 219-925-5600
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29
Where The Sellers and Buyers Meet...
25perword, 20word minimum.Sendyouradto
TheVintageTrader,WittmanAirfield
Oshkosh,WI 54903-2591.
AIRCRAFT:
ABareOpportunitytoown a1946V-77Gullwing
Stinson. Truly an award-winning aircraft. Only 14
hours S.M.O.H. For further information call 519/
633-4175, evenings (92)
1940 Aeronca 65-Tl- Built 9/22140. logbooks
from 1942.Been instorage. Originalengine. Good
restoration project. $1800. SW Ohio. Days 513/
461-4750, evenings 513/890-1068.(10-2)
Aeronca Champ- 20 hours since rebuild. 1941
Taylorcraft BC65 project, many new and extra
parts.Some work done.Price negotiable.Charles
Trask, 1070 Stevens Road, York Haven, PA
17370,717/938-1515.(10-2)
1933 Fairchild 22 - Menasco 0-4, very nice.
Somespareengineparts.$26,000/offer.Also1933
Fairchild24,dismantledforrestoration.Somefuse-
lageworkdone. 145Warner0STOH.$7500.3121
358-4035or3121742-2041.(91)
Stinson l5-E, N5624V. Partially restored. Parts,
manuals complete. Two engines. Fuselage and
controlsfinished. Hard workdone.N.Howell, 213/
317-5646or805/488-9353. $6500.
PLANS:
POBERPIXIE- VWpoweredparasol- unlimited
in low-cost pleasure flying. Big, roomy cockpit for
the over six foot pilot. VW power insures hard to
beat3V2 gph alcruise setting.15 large instruction
sheets. Plans- $60.00. InfoPack- $5.00. Send
check or money order to: ACRO SPORT, INC.,
Box462,HalesCorners,WI53130.414/529-2609.
ACROSPORT- Single place biplane capableof
unlimited aerobatics. 23 sheets of clear, easy to
follow plans includes nearly 100isometrical draw-
ings, photos and exploded views.Complete parts
and materials list. Full size wing drawings. Plans
pius 139 page Builder's Manual - $60.00. Info
Pack- $5.00.SuperAcroSportWing Drawing-
$15.00. The Technique of Aircraft Building -
$10.00 plus $2.00postage.Send checkormoney
orderto:ACROSPORT,INC.,Box462,HalesCor-
ners, WI 53130. 414/529-2609.
ACROII- Thenew2-placeaerobatictrainerand
sportbiplane.20pagesof easytofollow, detailed
plans. Complete with isometric drawings, photos,
exploded views. Plans - $85.00. Info Pac -
$5.00. Send check or money order to: ACRO
SPORT, INC., P.O. Box 462, Hales Corners, WI
53130.414/529-2609.
MISCELLANEOUS:
BACKISSUES...BackissuesofTHEVINTAGE
AIRPLANE (and other EMDivision publications)
are available at $1.25 per issue. Send your listof
issuesdesiredalongwithpaymentto:BackIssues,
EM-WittmanAirfield, Oshkosh, WI 54903-2591.
"GRANDCANYON", 2-hourspectacularhelicopter
exploration VIDEO. Breathtaking music. Critically
acclaimed. Details FREE. Beerger Productions,
327-V12, Arville, lasVegas, NV 89102,702/876-
2328. (C-l0/86)
FUEL CELLS - TOP QUALITY - Custom made
bladder-type fuel tanks and auxiliary cells, any
shapeorcapacityforWarbirds, Experimental, Vin-
tage, Sport and Acrobatic aircraft. lightweight,
crashworthy,baffledandcollapsibleforinstallation.
Typicaldelivery2-3weeks.Callorwritefordetails:
1-800-526-5330,AeroTec labs,Inc.(ATl),Spear
RoadIndustrialPark, Ramsey,NJ07446.(C5/87)
Havewegotapartforyou!- 20yearsaccumu-
lation of parts for all types of aircraft- antiques,
classics,homebuilts,warbirds.Every1hingfromthe
spinnerto thetail wheel. Air SalvageofArkansas,
Highway8East,Mena,AR71953,phone501/394-
1022or5011394-2342.(9/11/1)
WANTED:
Wanted:AnypartsregardlessofconditionforCon-
solidated PR-3/NY-2 Aircraft. Also any detail
photos, drawings,etc.BillHodson, 1042Hacienda
Drive, Simi Valley, CA 93065, phone 805/522-
5239.(92)
VINTAGE TRADER AD fORM
Send check ormoneyorderwith copyto VintageTrader- EM,Wittman Airfield, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086.
TotalWords____
Numberof Issuesto Run ______________________
Total$,____
Signature __________ _________________
Address
30 SEPTEMBER 1986
~ ~ : ; ~ ~ ~ ; ?
Classicowners!
Interiorlooking....bbyt
Finishitrightwithan
airtex:interior
Completeinteriorassembliesfordo-it-yourselfinstallation.
Custom Quality at economical p-ices_
Cushion upholsterysets
Wall panel sets
Headliners
Carpetsets
Baggagecompartment sets
Firewall covers
SeatSlings
Recover envelopesand dopes
FreeCatalogofcompleteproductline.FabricSelectionGuide
showingactualsamplecolors and stylesof materials: $3.00.
I VIS4 I
t - y;r
Qlr exproducts,inc. I I
259LowerMorrisvilleRd.,Dept. VA
Fallsington, PA 19054 (215)295-4115 . 1
g ~ ~ ,
LOG BOOKS
NEWAND REVISED FOR ...
Pilots: EMPilot Log Book $2.75 ppd.
AircraftOwnersandBuilders:
EMAmateurBuiltAircraft
Log Book ........ $2.75 ppd.
EMPropeller(orRotor)
Log Book .......... $2.75 ppd.
EMEngineandReductionDrive
Log Book .......... $2.75 ppd.
UltralightOwnersandOperators:
EMUltralightPilot'sLogand
Achievement Record . . . . $2.75 ppd.
EMUltralightEngineand
Aircraft Log ......... $2.75 ppd.
AlsoNowAvailable:
CAM-18(Reprintofearly
CMManual) . . . . . . . . . . $5.50 ppd.
Amateur-BuiltAircraftServiceand
Maintenance Manual . . . . $4.50 ppd.
OrderFrom:
EAA
Wittman Airfield Oshkosh, WI 54903-2591
Phone 414/426-4800
Includepaymentwith order- Wise. residentsadd 5%sales tax
Allow4-6weeks fordelivery
CLASSIC WALNUT
Miniature Scale Replicas of Your Favorite CLASSIC or
ANTIQUE Airplane, Meti culously Handcrafted in
American Black Walnut.
ATrulyUnique Desk Set with Matching Pen and Gold-
tone I.D. Plate for Gift, Award or Flying Event Trophy.
Planescan be Pedestal Mounted Depicting "In-Flight,"
or Base Mounted to Depict a "Landed" Attitude.
For FREE Color
Brochure with
Price List and
Full Details:
WRITE or PHONE
PlANEPEOPLE
3425 SixthAvenueSouth
Salem OR97302
(503) 370-9806
STITSPOLY-FIBER
COVERINGMATERIALS
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*PROVENDURABILITYONTHOUSANDS OFAIRCRAFT.
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*ALLCOATINGSDEVELOPEDESPECIALLYFORAIRCRAFT
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*WILL NOTSUPPORTCOMBUSTION.
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*SAMPLE OF HIG'iSTRENGTH,VERV SMOOTH,1.7oz.
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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

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Oshkosh '86 is now in the record books

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