THE PRESIDENT'S PAGE

By E. E. "Buck" Hilbert
President, Antique-Classic Division
THEY ARE COMING OUT OF THE WOODS!
AND HILLS, TOO!
(Photo by Ted Kaston)
This year, Oshkosh, if it's still there after the tornado, is going to be the best ever. I've been
getting letters from people volunteering to help with the Division activities from all over. Even
whole chapters. This is great! This shows the cooperation and the drive we need to make this
thing. And this year I'm gonna try somethin' different. Walt Petersen brought it up. "Volun-
teers are hard to get," he says, "so can we offer them a little incentive? Like maybe a ride in
an antique airplane?" You bet, I says to myself, and I'm sayin' it to you now. Owner permit-
ting, you show us some work and we'll give you a ride in the machine of your choice. I'm sure
the owners will cooperate and maybe we'll bring back some of that old spirit that seems to be
fallin' by the wayside. Let's all share the work and some of the fun, too. And don't forget that
Spin, Loop and Roll thing the lAC has offered us. Let's swamp 'em on that one. But let's take
care of our own end too. Let's have the Orderliness and neat operation that makes it a plea-
sure to be part of it. Attend a few of the forums, too. There's no better way to learn about your
machine than to share it with others. And you Classic guys, get those pre-registration requests
in, make sure you've got that parking place reserved. See you there!
HOW 10 JOIN THE ANTIQUE-CLASSIC DIVISION
Membership in the EAA Ant ique-Classic Di vision is open to all EAA members who have a special
interest in the older aircraft that are a proud par t of our aviation heritage. Membership in the Antique-
Classic Division is $10.00 per year which n t i t h ~ s one to 12 issues of The Vintage Airplane published
monthly a t EAA Headquarters. Each member will al so receive a special Antique-Classic membership
card plus one additional card for one's spouse or other designated family member.
Membership in EAA is $15. 00 per year which includes 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION. All mem-
bership correspondence should be addressed to: EAA, Box 229, Hales Corners , Wi sconsin 53130.
2

VOLUME 2 - NUMBER 5 MAY 1974
TABLE OF CONTENTS
The Uptown Swallow . .. Buck Hilbert . . . .... . . .. . .. . . . . .. . ... . .. . .. .. . . ..... . ...... 4
Reminiscing With Big Nick . . . Nick Rezi ch . . ............ .... .... ... .. .. .. . ..... . .. . . 8
Cloudland Revisi ted .. . Leonard Opdycke .. .. . . .. . . . .. . . ...... . . . .. . ... ... .. . .... . .. 14
Wasp Powered Northrop Beta . .. Jack Cox . .. . . . . . . . .. . . .. . .. .. . . .. ......... . . ..... . 16
Around The Antique-Classic World .. .. .... . .......... .. . . ..... . . . .. . .. .. . . ... .. ... .. 18
O N THE COVER Northrop Beta
Photo Courtesy Harold Wadleigh
BACK COVER Monocoupes
Photo by Ted Koston
EDITORIAL STAFF
Publisher - Paul H. Poberezny
Assistant Ed itor - Gene Chase
Ed itor - Jack Cox
Assistant Ed it or - Golda Cox
ANTIQUE AND CLASSIC DIVISION OFFICERS
PRESIDENT -
E. E HILBERT
VICE PRESI DENT
J. R. NIE LANDER. JR.
P. O BOX 2464 8102 LEECH RD.
UNI ON. ILLINOIS 60180 FT. LAUDERDALE. FLA. 33303
EVANDER BRITI
SECRETARY
RI CHARD WAGNER
BOX 181
LYONS. WIS. 53 148
JIM HORNE
DIRECTORS
TREASURER
GAR W. WILLIAMS, JR.
9 S 135 AERO OR. , RT. 1
NAPERVILLE , ILl. 60540
MORTON LESTER
P. O. Box 458
Lumberton, N. C. 28358
3850 Coronation Rd.
Eagan, Minn. 55122
P. O. Box 3747
Martinsvi lle, Va. 24112
CLAUDE L. GRAY, JR.
9635 Sylvia Ave.
Northridge, Calif. 91324
AL KELCH
7018 W. Bonniwell Rd.
Mequon, Wise. 53092
GEORGE STUBBS
RR 18, Box 127
IndianapOliS, Ind. 46234
DIVISION EXECUTIVE SECRETARY
DOROTHY CHASE, EAA HEADOUARTERS
THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE is owned excl usively by Anti que ClassIc Ai rcraft . Inc. and is publ ished
monthly at Hales Corners. Wi sconsin 53130. Second Class Permit pending at Hales Corners Post
Off ice. Hales Corners. Wisconsi n 53130. Membership rates for Ant ique Classic Aircraft. Inc. are
$10.00 per 12 month penod of whi ch 57.00 i s for the subscnpt.on to THE VINTAGE AIRPLANE. All
Antique ClassIc Ai rcraft. Inc. members are reqUired to be members of the parent organizat ion , the
Experi mental Aircraft Associ ation. MemberShip IS open t o all who are interested i n aVI,atlon.
KELLY VIETS
RR 1, Box 151
Sti lwell . Kansas 66085
JACK WINTHROP
3536 Whitehall Dr.
Dall as, Texas 75229
Postmaster: Send Form 3579 to Antique Classic Aircraft, Inc. , Box 229,
Hales Corners, Wisconsin 53130
Copyright 1974 Antique Classic Aircraf t, Inc. All Rights Reserved
3
(Buck Hilbert Photo)
Bastille Dayfora Swallow! The oldbirdbasks in the noondaysun for the first timesince 1934.
THE UPTOWN SWALLOW
By BuckHilbert, President
EAA Antique-Classic Division
The first installmentofa saga which PresidentBuck
Hilbertwillunravelatintervals untila rareSwallowCom-
mercialisflyingagain.Shamelesslyusingwhathastobe
theworstpunoftheyear,hereferstothisprojectas "Op-
eration Deep Throat".
The actual beginning of this story is lost somewhere in
the past. I can't recall exactly when we "found out" about
the Swallow in the Uptown section of Chicago, but I can
remember how. One time when Dario Toffenetti and I were
working our wishing glands up to a frenzy talking about
old airplanes, Dario's wife, Ginny, suddenly blurted out
that she knew where there was an old airplane. She re-
membered it from childhood days and told us exactly
where to look for it. All the neighborhood kids knew where
it was, it had been there forever.
Well, it was there, and had been for eons. Since 1934
to be exact, when the depression put the squeeze on a fly-
ing partnership and they were forced to store the airplane
for a while until things got better. The "time" never ar-
rived, and with the responsibilities of everyday living and
the shortage of money, the project was never revived.
Dario began working on the owner and his patience
finally paid off. After ten years of badgering, haranging,
threatening and pleading, the old boy finally broke loose.
The Swallow was available. We took it, but even now after
we have it on paper and the airframe is safely stored in the
hangar until restoration time, it doesn't seem possible. It's
incredulous! ... the false starts, the dreams, the plans are
all in the past now, it is time to be realistic about it and get
to work. And work it is!
Arriving at the garage where the machine had been
stored, all the year's dust accumulation became more ap-
parent than ever. For the first time, we crawled all over
the loft and examined the best we could the bones we had
purchased. There were numerous goodies, to be sure. A
Hamilton Standard Ground Adjustable prop, new 30x5
tires still in the wrappi ngs, books, new spark plugs, OX-5
parts still in the new wrappin's and 10 and behold there
were three engines. One OXX-6 and aside from the one
hung on the ash engine bearers, a second OX-S stored in
another loft. It was too much to hope for. But it's all
there, and we are still muttering in disbelief.
Two weeks after the first examination session we
showed with my pickup and the flat bed trailer constructed
some years ago in hopes that maybe I'd get to use it for
this very sort of thing someday. I have had this trailer ever
since Bill Hodges dropped off the running gear in my farm
4
yard one. day, and apparently abandoned it. I took the
thing and with the help of a welder friend, we built up a
flat bed 17x7, installed all the lighting and safety gear
and we were ready. I never got to use it. Word gets around
on things like this and the trailer has been all the way to
Texas, down to Arkansas, and out to Iowa, but each time
it was a well meaning friend who used it and each time it
came home it had several glaring defects that called for
extensive modifications. One day after I thought all the
mods were done, and the idea that maybe I'd better use it
kept grawin' at me, I tried to bring a load of hay in from
the field with it. I didn' t even get it back up here to the
barn before the running gear broke. That called for a bet-
ter and bigger axle assembly which is now in place and
the crucial test was about to come, as I arrived on the
Swallow scene.
Now understand, this airplane has been stored up in the
rafters of this commercial garage since '34. The ceiling is
about 30 feet high, and getting it up there was easy. They
just hooked a half inch cable to a drum pulley, tied it to
the airplane and the front bumper of a car and backed
the car up a sufficient distance to raise the Swallow up to
the ceiling. It was then secured by means of a chain to a
sixteen inch beam, and that was " home" for the next forty
years.
As the years passed the Swallow was all but swallowed
by additions of storage lofts on either side and to the front.
As a matter of fact, the only visible parts of the machine
showing when I first arrived to inspect it were the landing
gear axles protruding and extending along the floor or
ceiling of the lofts on either side. Walking over to stand di-
rectly beneath the machine was a very hazardous obstacle
strewn path, and required considerable effort as you
threaded your way past old cars, engines, tooling and de-
bris. Please don' t misunderstand. The owner, Mr. Bill Ir-
win, placed these objects there for future use, someday,
and every piece had value to him, if no one else, but they
were in the way.
A rickety ladder was placed up to the loft and I esca-
lated my way up to look more closely. Sure enough, under
all the dust and soot was a three seater, hot water eight
powered Swallow biplane. The name plate said so. It was
serial number 963 and was equipped with an OX-5 engine.
The panel was almost intact and has only two missing in-
struments. The black leather seats are still intact and the
seat belts (five inches wide) with leather adjusting straps
and buckles are still in place. Except for the layers of soot
and dust the machine appeared to be in excellent condi-
tion.
The actual recovery operation now in progress proved
all our original conclusions to be correct. The airframe is
in good condition and the restoration will be made with a
completely assembled airframe to start from. Oh, the
wings, center section and tailfeathers are off, and there
isn't a shred of fabric on the bones, but it's all there, and
the components are complete. There will be no guessing
here, it's right there to start with. Even the shock cords
are still in place on the gear and tail skid. It's amazing.
I haven't worked in such a dusty-dirty cramped space
in many a year. If it weren't that we were dangling in air
I'd say we had something in common with a coal miner. It
was that dirty, as you'll see from the pictures . Forty years
can result in quite an accumulation.
The cramped spaces left for the fuselage didn't allow
much working space, but after the automobiles and some
of the engines, tools and other stuff were moved from be-
neath the airframe the project was started. Since there
was no pulley available, much less cable, we elected to
lower the fuselage with a two ton chain-faU. Great, but
how do we get thi s 125 pound-plus rig up there to the six-
teen-inch beam? Easy - we haul it up, and that we did,
but not without much grunting, puffing and words of ex-
asperation. We finally made it though, and after hooking
up began untying the various ropes and wires to free the
"bird" from it's nes t. Dario was sitting in the cockpit and
began payi ng out the chain and lowering hi mself and the
airframe to the floor.
There is a pause here while a second safety chain is
ti ed in and a smaller back-up chai n-fall is installed, just in
case. That "jus t in case" becomes horribl e reality in a few
moments when the entire airframe slips its chains and the
fuselage rolls to the right about fifty degrees. Dario is
hanging in there and is seen applying opposi te stick and
rudder in an obvious attempt to hold her straight and level,
but it jus t does n' t seem to have any effect. The safety
chain and secondary chain-fall do their job though and the
plunge to the concrete below is averted. We retrench and
after some more grunting and swearing, we disengage the
prop fr om a unit heater and finally get down to the floor
level. The wheels are installed and we roll it out into the
sunlight.
This is a "changing" neighborhood, but kids are kids.
Within five minutes the word is out and every kid for
three blocks around is at the scene. There are big ones, lit-
tle ones, black ones, white ones, girls and boys and tots
and mothers - and daddys too. There are people every-
where - some were jus t driving by and stopped to look,
some are authorities on Fokkers, some on Jennies, and
others know all about the horrible flight characteristics of
these machines too. But they all know one thing, they
have never seen four dirtier guys with such grins on their
faces.
After gathering up the cowling, the prop, the struts and
all the other goodies we can handle at the time, we begin
the loading job. The OXX-6 goes in the pick-up bed, the
extras go there too, and we being to think about getting
thi s monstrous airframe up on the trailer, which seems to
be an impossibl e task. We begin rolling the thing towards
the trailer. Wait a minute! I thought we measured the gear
at 6' 6" ... how come it doesn't fit on the trailer? Dum-
my, the shock cords are giving out and the closer we get
to the trailer the wider the gear gets. We jack up the fuse-
lage and tie the gear together with a chain. We now have
our tread down to an acceptable width to fit the trailer
and up she goes and into place. That was so easy as to be
unbelievable. We ci nch it down wi th a bunch of wire
braces and to be certain it doesn't shift, we build a cradle
for the gear from 2x6s and 2x4s . It seems solid, so we be-
gin to make tracks. It trails beautifully, no waver at all,
and we are off to the hangar.
The hangar is ninety miles away at Bill Haselton's in
South Bend, Indiana. It promises to be a long haul and we
are a little apprehensive - and understandably so. We
crawl down the alley to a street in the right direction, ease
out onto Broadway southbound, and we are on our way.
What a sight! We begin to work the speed up a little
and the years of dust accumulation begin to flow off the
machine. It looks like a horizontal dust devil for about
three blocks and thi s seems to be very amusing until we
pass a Chicago cop who is standing at the curb writing a
ticket. Most of the dust seems to swirl in and around him
as we stop for a red light abeam of him. He is so intent
upon his ticket writi ng he doesn' t even look up until we
begi n to pull away as the light changes, and then we get
only a mildly curious glance. With that crisis out of the
way, we begin to look for a restaurant with parking fa-
cilities for an airplane on a trailer. It is now a little after
three in the afternoon and we have been loading th.is thing
5
(Buck Hilbert Photo)
Left. After reading this story, you antique airplane
scroungers will give up snooping around old barns in rural
areas and rush to the big cities to haunt old garages! How
is this for an unlikely place to find an airplane?
since nine-thirty. We are suddenly very hungry.
We don't dare stay at the restaurant too long. The re-
sultant traffic back-up caused by curious "rubber-neckers"
and the curious stares of the other patrons make us sud-
denly aware of how dirty and disheveled our appearance.
We move along west to the Interstate and then around the
south end of Lake Michigan into Indiana. We are overtaken
and studied by State Patrol cars a couple times in lllinois
and once in Ind iana, but they must be afraid to tackle
these maniacs dragging an airplane so we travel on to
South Bend.
It's a three hour trip and we arrive a few minutes be-
fore dark. Bill Haselton comes out to the Chain 0' Lakes
Airport and we unload the Swallow and put it into the han-
gar. The rest of the goodies go over to Bill's where they are
placed in the loft until the time comes when he can work
on them. "Bud" Kilbey arrives on the scene and we take
the OXX-6 over to his shop. Bud is reworking a hot-water-
eight for the Travel Air he is building. The OXX-6 will
give him a little more to do, but, as he says, if you're
gonna do one, you might as well do two.
Dario and I hit the shower and then sack out to dream
about the Swallow all night. The next morning we gather
up our wits and after church we head back home. The job
is not finished though, we still have to scale that loft again,
get the wings down and bring them over here. That comes
next week.
The following Tuesday at nine-thirty a. m. the operation
is again in effect. Arriving at the garage we are more than
anxious to get the job over with. The changing neighbor-
hood has taken on an atmosphere that seems almost ha-
zardous. The reason Bill Irwin decided to sell to us in the
first place was because person or persons unknown had at-
tempted to burn his garage down. It was only his desire to
preserve the machine that made him part with it. He was
afraid it would be destroyed if it remained where it was.
His fears were far from groundless. That very morning
the building next door to his mysteriously caught fire. We
worked with a certain frenzy to get the rest of the machine
out of there.
When the wings were originally placed alongside the
fuselage back in '34, there was nothing to impede their
placement. Bill merely attached a pair of pulleys to the
ceiling and hoisted each panel up in place. They were then
racked in a multiple "H" shaped rack secured to the ceil-
ing joists. Getting them back down was to prove most dif-
ficult. After they were up there a few years, a floor was
constructed under them and a woodshop was installed on
that floor. Wiring was installed, lighting and literally tons
of stuff was stored up there. Carpeting, ceiling tile, light
fixtures, car parts, a rather extensive book collection,
(Buck Hilbert Photo)
Below. Another view of the neighborhood in which the
Swallow has been sequestered for 10 these many years.
many, many new and used old car parts, and, of course,
the wood-working machinery along with some choice
pieces of select wood to be used "just in case". Again,
everything was covered with a layer of dust you wouldn't
believe. And so were we after about two minutes of ex-
posure.
Before we could begin to remove the wings, we had to
construct bracing and supports to hold up the floor of the
loft. This took a while. We then undid the ceiling studs that
held the whole thing up, one by one, until we had an open-
ing of sufficient width to slip the wings through. We were
now ready to lower away! - and lower away we did. The
original pulleys were still attached to the ceiling joists
and Bill insisted we use them much the same as he did
some forty years before when he put them up there. They
worked just fine, however, we had just a little trouble with
the old cotton clothes line. It had assumed a shape and at-
titude and didn't want to be disturbed. When we did, it
all but disintegrated. We got the wings down though and
one by one they and the rest of the airplane collected in
the next door lot in preparation for loading.
The trailer was again pressed intp use. The thing was
just perfect for this kind of job. The wing panels were
stacked on the flat bed with inner tubes between and the
entire bundle secured with a couple of cross 2x4s securely
wired in place. The ailerons were placed atop the pile and
that took care of all that. One more thing though, that
other extra engine that was away back in the other loft had
to be brought down and loaded in the bed of the truck.
"Hey, Buck! - this looks like an OXX-6!", yells Dario
and, sure enough, it is. There are no accessories, but it
seems to be about two-thirds Millerized, and there is one
Dixie Magneto. Bill is very hazy about the origin of this en-
gine. Someone gave it to him, but he can't remember who
or when or how long it's even been up there. By the way,
6
(Buck Hilbert Photo)
Right. Bill Irwin, the benefactor of today' s generation of
antique airplane lovers. Mr. Irwin has had the Swallow
Commercial stored in his shop for the past 40 years.
(Buck Hilbert Photo)
Below. " . . . yeah, an' I say George Washington
010 fly across the Potomac in one just like this!"
it was stored in a tire loft, and remembering what a scarce
item 550-17 tires were during the war (WW-II, that is)
someone sure could have used that brand new pair that
was alongside the engine.
It was n' t easy getting tha t engine down. There was no
way to hook on to it and, furthermore, nothing to hook it
with. The flimsy fl oor could barely hold our weight, let
along the OXX-6 and the two of us to boot. We called for
additi onal pl ywood to lay on the fl oor as a doubler, and
then labori ously walked the engine to the lip of the loft.
The fl oor was complaining in a squeaky fashi on and the
sag was quite alarming. "Just look out below, Bill, thi s
thing is coming down!!" We hooked a chain around a cou-
ple of cylinders and attached it to the fr ont end of the
cranks haft, wheeled a chain-fall along the sixteen inch
beam some four feet dis tant and secured the hook to the
engine halter. We locked the hoist to the beam about four
feet ou t fr om the loft and began taking up the slack.
The plywood skidded along just fine acting as a sled
and wi th a loud whoomp the engine went over the lip
and out into space. The chai n-fall jerked it up short about
ten feet above the fl oor a nd the whole works just hung
there pendul ously and the job was about over. The truck
was backed in and the engine was loaded with no further
gyrations, secured in pl ace and that was that. Look at that,
two hours work and all that superb engineering, all con-
densed into less than two paragraphs. We are progressing.
The cockpit coarning, still res plendent with bright red
(but dir ty) leather and several other assorted pieces are
loaded alongside of the OXX-6, the trail er is hooked up and
we are 'On the way. Again the loading operati on took about
three hours longer than anticipated. It is after three in the
afternoon and I'm on the way to South Bend. Dar io has to
go to work so I undertake this trip by myself.
Once out of the city traffic, the stares from the passing
cars and trucks are a real treat. I didn't really believe there
were that many interes ted people in the world. The State
Police are at it again. The radio net al erts each sector as I
pass through and me and the load are gi ven a better than
cursory once over each time we enter a new police sec-
tor. Only four cylinders of the OXX-6 s how with it lying on
its side, and thi s evokes some real curious stares as cars
pass by. A Bensen Gyrocopter owner with Michigan plates
about twisted his head off looking my load over. He didn' t
offer to stop though and talk EAA, so I plodded along.
About the time I was ready to turn off on Highway 20, I
was intercepted by an EAA type in a Mercedes 220D. He
almost wore out his eyeballs trying to decide what it was,
and, finall y, I waved him over to the side of the road where
we had a real nice ten minute talk. He was from Benton
Harbor, Michi gan. Although he didn't have a proj ect go-
ing he sure expressed an interes t in the Swallow. I wi sh I
weren' t so lousy with names and could remember them.
I'll see him at Oshkos h though and I' ll get it then.
Bill Haselton is wai ting when I arrive at Chain 0 ' Lakes
and before the sun sets " Bud" Kilbey is there, too. Amidst
the Ooohs and Aaahs and excl amations of what good con-
dition everything seems to be we manage to unload and
store in the hangar what needs to be stored, and we then
proceed to "Bud's" where we off-load the engine. We are
all very enthused. We now have enough par ts to build an
OXX-6. Thi s is wonderful! We will have a hot water eight
with dual ignition . .. if I can find mags to go with it.
The res t is routine. Bill and I have been on the phone
almost daily since I dropped it off and we are completing
the inventory and examination of what actually is there.
The airpl ane is compl ete with the exception of one hori-
zontal stabil izer strut and one aileron interconnect strut.
Even the ori gi nal fabri c was there - off the airplane but
bundled up for pattern during the recover. The ori gi nal
color was John Deere Green and Ivory with a red stripe to
match the red leather cockpit trim. It had been repai nted
bl ack and orange (Swallow) colors sometime or other, but
the ori ginal colors were discernibl e under the new paint.
The adventure is just beginning. The refurb must be
preceded by research and finding out all there is to know
about the machine, the builders, the owners and its hiS-
tory after it left the factory. In my preliminary research, I
ca nnot find anything other than an occasional factory
reference to the Swall ow Commercial. This is not the TP.
It had no center secti on, but a two pi ece upper wing that
butts in the middl e. It has the typical four ail eron config-
uration of the TP but is three pl ace and has "N" struts
and streamline flying wires instead of cables as on the TP.
There is also a s plit axle landing gear rather than the
straight axle. Wir e wheels and a skid are standard.
7
(Buck Hilbert Photo)
Dario Toffenetti, co-conspirator with President Buck in
this sordid plot to snatch an old timer's body from an aero-
nautical entombment, spirit it across state lines under the
very noses of the authorities and turn the remains over to
that arch-restorer, Bill Haselton, who, with the aid of
strange instruments and fiendish skill, will attempt to
bring the old bird back to life.
The radiator is ahead of the landing gear down on the
belly and the engine is indeed mounted on ash engine
bearers. Aside from being a little oily, they look entirely
serviceable just as they are. The original cowling seems to
be in very good condition and Ole Fahlin has promised
to think about building up a prop. The new 30x5 tires that
were unwrapped and installed when we moved the ma-
chine are still holding air and although the shock cords
on the gear and skid are just powder now, they are still in
place.
The woodwork, glue joints and construction seems to
have withstood the years remarkably well. We have tried
to pry the joints apart - with good solid adherence foil-
ing our efforts. The spars, capstrips, drag and anti-drag
wires are all in pretty good shape. Someone tried to "beef-
up" the wing fittings and "N" strut bolt holes by welding
plates across them and re-drilling the holes, but by today's
standards, they will have to be junked and new ones
made. The all-tubing fuselage is a masterpiece of artful
welding. Every stringer is in place and straight as new.
There is one rusted area where the condensation drippings
of an air conditioner ran fOT who knows how many years,
bu the original prime is still good as new except for that
one place.
Engine controls are still hooked up and operable. The
whole thing looks as though they just shut her down and
pulled it up to the ceiling. There are two instrumen.ts mis-
sing from the panel: the tachometer and the old altimeter.
These are both the oversize type, about four and a quarter
inches in diameter. There is no compass installed, the
temp, pressure and other engine gauges are all there.
There is no airspeed indicator.
- To Be Continued -
The year was 1932 and America was close to rock bot-
tom. Crude oil was selling for ten cents - yes, ten cents
a barrel; wheat for twenty-five cents a bushel and General
Motors stock was being quoted just under eight dollars a
share. It was quite common to find college professors,
bankers, bums and air line pilots in the soup lines, and
jobless veterans were encamped in Washington, D. C.
BELIEVE-YOU-ME, things were rough!
I was a struggling fledgling working for Blue Bird Air
Transport at the old Chicago Municipal Airport during this
period of financial and economic turmoil ... and it was
during 1932 that I first met the great Colonel Art Goebel,
winner of the famed Pacific Dole Race.
He was working for Phillips 66 as a skywriter writing
"Phillips 66" in long hand ... in colored smoke. Art was
making big money and was on an expense account. He
hired me as his ground boy to take care of his Travel
Air D-9-4000. The extra money I made working for Art
came just at the time we lost our home because of the
Depression and the closing of the banks. When Art found
out that we were without a home, he doubled my pay from
five dollars to ten dollars and would throw in a five dollar
tip besides. I really loved him . .. for a world famous
flier, he was not stuck up or arrogant. He taught me how
to make smoke and what were then the secrets of sky-
writing. Most of the other big guys wouldn't give you the
time of day much less help you. Later, when I was sky-
writing for Muntz TV, I often thought, "If it weren't for
Art Goebel, I wouldn't be here." Our friendship grew with
the years and peaked when he became president of the
OX-5 Club of America.
I am saddened with his departure as are many others .
I am not sure that there will be many articles and books
written about Art in the months to come - I only hope
that whoever writes about him includes his interest in the
early American Indian, his dog, Mike, his home in Cali-
fornia and ranch in Texas, which are more museums than
homes.
Art was a real pioneer - he taught himself how to fly
instruments, sky write, and over water navigation. Many
people think he did all his skywriting in the famous Boe-
ing fighter he bought from Howard Hughes - not so. It
all started with the Travel Air D-9-4000, which is a D-4-D
with a Wright J-6-9 of 330 horsepower and a dorsal fin.
Art's skywriter was a one-of-a-kind airplane. When Art
asked Walter Beech for a high performance airplane, he
took a D-4-D and put in the 330 Wright, smoke tanks in
the front seat and a long "blooey" pipe. On the first flight
Art complained about running out of rudder on take off.
Beech chopped the counterbalance off the rudder and
lengthened the fin. This satisfied Art. The airplane was li-
censed NR because Art was in a hurry and did not care to
wait for the CAA to issue an NC.
Walter Beech followed up on this airplane and built
the B-9-4000 as a production airplane. It was a B-4000
converted to a 330 horsepower Wright J-6-9.
Art's Travel Air wound up in Chicago and finally in
Lake Michigan. The Chicago owner was Paul Stanley, who
sold it to the U. S. Navy during World War II.
Col. Art Goebel was one of the finest akro pilots in the
late 20s .. . let me correct that - he was a "stunt" pilot.
He was one of the early motion picture pilots. Most of
his stunt flying was for Cecil B. DeMille and Pathe News.
The accompanying photos are from the Colonel's private
collection and I believe this is the first time they have been
published.
How about that car-to-plane transfer? That took place
in Los Angeles and I think that is Riverside Boulevard.
Notice the curve in the road, the light poles and trees. This
was a practice session before public viewing. Oh boy!
8
Wouldn't the FAA have a slobbering fit if you tried this
today! Notice how the stunt man leaves the car - he is
facing the on-coming ladder. Today's stunt men get on in
reverse of this - they follow the ladder and lunge for-
ward. The airplane that Art is flying here is a Hisso Jenny.
Art was truly the showman of showmen. He was al-
ways one jump ahead of the field. When everybody was
flying with wing walkers, Art topped them by flying with
two wing walkers and to add a touch of class, he used
young good looking girls instead of men.
He was the first to use a girl for the plane-to-plane
transfer. Then he topped that with the girl aerial " me-
chanic". I think the "Lost wheel" act is the most. This was
a long and exciting act. Art would take off and lose a
wheel - and about the time the crowd was expecting a
crash, Bon MacDougall and Gladys Engle would take off in
another OX-S Jenny and pull up alongside of Art. Now
Gladys would strap a wheel on to her back and walk the
wing to the tip, then transfer to Art's Jenny and walk the
wing to the landing gear where she would wrap herself
around the gear leg, unstrap the wheel from her back and
install it on the axle. Climbing back into the cockpit, she
and Art would land to the thunderous applause of the
crowd.
I am sure that all of you who have seen Sandi Pierce,
Patti Deck, Judy Cole, John Kazian and young Gordy Mc-
Collom admire them ... but you must admit that Art
Goebel's girls Babe Calerbak and Gladys Engle were Su-
per Stars. They were the pioneers. We all learned from
their daring experiments. I know what some of you are
saying ... sure they were great but they only flew
straight and level - oh yeah! Cast your eyes on Spider
Matlock on that Jenny. There is no argument as to the posi-
tion of the airplane - it's upside down. Yes, they did roll
and loop them. You will also note - no chutes or braces.
REMINISCING WITH
BIG NICK
NickRezich
4213 CentervilleRd.
Rockford, III. 61102
Art flew with the world famous "Black Cats". There
were 13 "Cats", each with 13 letters in their names ...
"Fronty" Nichols, "Spider" Matlock and Bon MacDougall
started it all. They wore black sweaters with a black cat
and a figure "13" in an orange circle. They flew a fleet of
appropriately decorated Jennies, and they cornered the
motion picture and newsreel stunt business as well as fly-
ing on the airshow circuit.
Yes, Col. Art Goebel was a great man, a great pilot
and a great patriot. He will be missed by many, especially
me.
I am surprised that Art Scholl hasn' t come up with a
double-girl wing riding act. Of course, he would have to
graduate to a larger airplane than the Pitts. Are you lis-
tening, Artie?? Who knows, I may sell my Travel Air
for an act like that!
There will be a new air show act making its debut in
California this year. It will feature three Travel Airs and
girl wing walkers. This is a revival of the "Flying Aces"
from North Carolina, circa 1929. Max Robertson is behind
the project. The " Flying Aces" were operated by the
Woods from 1929 to 1939. Robertson has named his Travel
Air "Miss Jessie" after Jessie Woods who walked the
wings, pumped chutes and flew with the original Aces.
Next month I'll tell you how we built the famous Ho-
ward DGAs and myoid boss, the Super Great "Benny"
Howard.
I'll buy a beer for the first one who can identify the
original EAA streaker ... it happened in Rockford. This is
another one the Boss would rather forget.
Till next month ... don' t forget to change the jets in
the Zenith - summer IS coming.
- Big Nick
9
(Art Goebel Collection)
Below. The famous " Lost Wheel " sequence. That's Bon
MacDougall flying the Jenny in the foreground with Super
Star Gladys Engle on the wing (with a spare wheel
strapped to her back). Art Goebel maneuvers the Jenny
that has " lost the wheel " in to pick up Gladys. Can any-
one identify the camera plane in the background?
REMINIS
HI(
(Art Goebel Collection)
Right. Gladys has now walked down the wing, climbed
down on the landing gear and is installing the wheel.
Note Art Goebel peering over the side at her. Shortly
afterward, Gladys climbs back into the cockpit and the
two land to the amazement of the crowd.
10
G WITH
ICK
(Art Goebel Collection)
Left. Gladys makes contact and prepares to scamp-
er on the wing of Art's Jenny - without a chute.
(Art Goebel Collection)
Above. Gladys has successfully transferred to Art's Jenny
and now begins the walk down the wire and strut fes-
tooned wing . .. with that big drag producing wheel
dangling from her back.
(Art Goebel Collection)
Babe Kalerback on the left wing and Gladys Engle on the right
prepare themselves asArt heads under the Pasadena Bridge. The
aircraft is a Hisso Jenny. The girls have no safety straps and are
not wearing chutes - they are merely balancing on the king
posts!
W - W - WOW!
(Art Goebel Collection)
One of the "Black Cats" , Spider Matlock, on the gear of
a Jenny while Art flies inverted. Who says the Jenny was
not aerobatic?
(Art Goebel Collection)
A car-to-plane transfer on a city street in Los
Angeles. The transfer man has just been
snatched out of the back seat of the car. He was
standing facing backward in the car and leaped
onto the oncoming ladder as the airplane over-
took them from behind . .. just the reverse of
the way it is done today - and much more
hazardous.
(Nick Rezich Photo)
8ig Nick's Pepsi Cola skywriter NC-9917, a Travel Air
8-9-4000. The plane was rigged for skywriting and banner
towing. That is Frank Rezich on the wheel.
Photo)
Art's skywriter NR-481 N, a Travel Air 0-9-4000.
(Art Goebel Collection)
Left. Art Goebel after making the first
west to east non-stop flight across the
U. S. - in 18 hours and 58 minutes on
August 19, 1928 in the Lockheed Vega
"Yankee Doodle." Art collected $10,000
for this feat.
(Art Goebel Collection)
Right. The original $25,000 check Art
received for winning the California to
Hawaii Dole race. The plaque hangs in
Art's home. The Travel Air " Woolaroc"
is in a private museum in Oklahoma.
13
(Dick StoufferPhoto)
The Pfalz OXI/ nearing completion ofres-
toration at the EAA Museum. Only the in-
stal/ation of the Mercedes engine (fore-
ground)andthewingsremains.Theaircraft
is on loan from the Smithsonian.
CLOUDLAND REVISITED . . . OR .. .
. . . A TRIPLANE IN EVERY GARAGE
ByLeonard E. Opdycke(EAA 1076)
GreenbriarApts. A-12
347 South Road
Poughkeepsie, New York 12601
In England in 1922 you could buy the fuselage from a
Bristol Fighter for 5 shillings, the wing of a Fokker DVII
for another 5 shillings, put them together with another 8
shillings 6d for dope, and come in second in the gliding
meet at Itford in October. Three years later, Dr. Whitehead
Reid paid 5 pounds for an SE5, put a 90 h. p. RAF engine
in it, and raced it at Lympne (not very successfully). There
are still three Bristol Fighters around, one flying, but you
won't get a fuselage for any 5 shillings. There are still
Fokker DVIIs around, some ten of them, only two or three
in flying condition, but you won't get a wing for any 5
shillings, either. And there are still SE5s around, seven
of them, with three ready to fly - and none for sale at 5
pounds or at any price, for that matter.
So after the few pilots who had managed to liberate
their own (or someone else's) aeroplane after the Great
War, and fly it at immense cost for a few years until it
was wrecked, or decayed, or was in some other way dis-
posed of, there was no way of re-experiencing the delight
(if indeed it was a delight at the time) of flying one of the
Great Aircraft of the Great War .
But where there is a will there must be a way. It turned
out there were several, depending on luck, skill, time and
money. Many wartime aircraft had been brought to the
States for evaluation, for air racing, for barnstorming (I
talked with an ex-barnstormer who remembered having
unpacked a German Rumpler from its crates and grease
and flying it in an air show circuit in Florida! But he
couldn't remember what had happened to it later . . . ),
and ultimately for movies. All these activities brought
casualties, and the remains were often burned or buried or
simply lost - but sometimes, along with the survivors,
stored. Reginald Denny acquired a Ruston-Proctor-built
Sopwith Snipe (built 22 Sept. 1918), and after flying it
14
some, sold it to Paramount Studios in 1926. It found its
way to the Los Angeles County Museum sometime in 1930,
and Jack Canary retrieved it in 1953. After his death, it
was sold to the National Aviation Collection at Rockcliffe
in 1963, and flew (for the first time since Paramount) on
21 May 1964. Pfalz DXn No. 2846/18 flew for the Kaiser less
than a year, was taken over by the U. S. Army from 1918 -
1926, went to Paramount Studios in 1926, where Buck Ken-
dall took it and flew it to work, then she went into the
Smithsonian, from where the Experimental Aircraft As-
sociation rescued her and is currently rebuilding her in the
EAA Museum. Her sister ship, No. 7511118, went to the
Jarrett Collection on Steel Pier, then through Tallmantz and
Novak to Aeroflex and, finally, to Wings and Wheels in
Santee, S. C. (Editor'S Note: Wings and Wheels Museum
has closed its doors - the buildings are being leased to a
business concern. The collection of aircraft has been placed
in storage in various places in South Carolina pending a
move to the Orlando, Florida area.)
The more airplane you start with, the less work - in
some cases - but the more cost and also the less likely.
Ken Hyde of Warrenton, Virginia rebuilt a Curtiss JN4C
out of parts of at least two, and the ship is now at Bradley
Field Air Museum. Marion McClure of Bloomington, Illi-
nois hopes to rebuild his Curtiss MF boat from a handful of
struts, spars, and fittings . It turned out that the hull had
been cut off to make a motor boat years ago! The question
of how much original material has to be present to author-
ize its status as a restoration rather than a reproduction
has not yet been settled. ("This is my grandfather' s knife;
my father replaced the handle and I replaced the blade.")
But perhaps no matter how hard you look, you can't
find even a strut or altimeter, let alone a wing panel or a
basket case or a whole, sparkling-like-new aeroplane.
Must you give up The Dream? By no means - there are
still ways of achi eving it. The Nazis found it necessary to
build up a reproduction Fokker Dr.I at one of the earl y
Luftwaffe shows to commemorate von Richthofen (fate un-
known), and Col. Jarrett built up another for hi s Museum -
he later burned it. And there must have been still other
early reproducti ons. One of the first of the current torrent
of building jobs was Ed Brennan' s Fokker DVII, built with
a modified Travel Air fuselage and an inver ted Ranger en-
gi ne about 1961. Stories about its fl yi ng qualiti es vari ed -
some said they were fine, others said the small prop and
high speed engine produced some bad characteristics. And
the argument has raged ever since, whenever anyone pro-
poses an automobil e engine instead or a Mercedes ("bu t
wasn' t Mercedes an automobile?").
Stanley Morel's Fokker DVII reproducti on is exact, with
the proper engi ne and all the fittings reproduced the way
Tony (or Reinhold) imagi ned them. Some builders, like
Walt Addems and Joe PfeiHer, choose to repl ace the wood
fra me of the fu selage with steel tubing, often square, rath-
er than coping with oil-soaked wood and the continuous
tuning job needed to keep the originals in rig. Their two
Nieupor t 11's are otherwise indistingui shable from the
French originals. Some, like Earl Tavan, combine thi s sort
of structural change wi th a new engi ne - in his Sopwi th
Triplane, a War ner. The reproductions used in Those Mag-
nificent Men In Their Flying Machines al l had minor-
to-major structural changes, but all shar ed new engines,
with the attendant problems noted above. Some builders
add brakes and a tailwheel (like the Tavan Triplane). One
argument cl aims that these additi ons make the aircraft
possibl e to handl e in the absence of limitless grass fi elds
which stretch off in every direction; others that the high
little fighters with their legs further back than modern air-
craft are thereby tempted to nose over, and that the tail-
skid, oft en with a keelpl ate attached underneath, pro-
(Richard Day Photo)
Above. Richard Day's second Sopwith Camel - pow-
ered by an 80 LeRhone. Flies in Cole Palen' s air shows.
vides a kind of anchor-plus-tai l-steering that the wheel
does not. Another argument rages .
My model Fokker Tripl anes were always small com-
pared to my others, and it seemed to me that was the
way she was. In fact, the top wing stands some nine feet
off the ground, in landing positi on. Some builders prefer
to scale down their reproductions, and built 2/3 and 5/8
scale. The fine Canadian-designed all -wood SES is 2/3 size,
and cl ever mounting of the 85 h. p. Continental keeps the
original proportions pretty well, although the nose is a lit-
tl e long. Hobar t Sorrell built two handsome small Fokker
Tripl anes (one of whi ch is in the EAA Museum). The five
SE5s in Darlin' Lily and Richthofen And Brown were built
by Slingsby's - all small, and to my taste, rather out of
shape.
Finally, still in the piloted cl ass, come the homebuilts
whi ch have some remote resembl ance to a WWI ai rcraft.
The Foo Fighter which does combat wi th littl e SE5s at
EAA Fly-Ins, the Volksjager Parasol and the late Marty
Haedtl er's " Morane-Saulni er Scout", whi ch is pretty but
unauthenti c, are all examples. At leas t they give you the
feeling of fl ying biplanes and parasols with crosses and
circles on them, and maybe a sort of Spandau, for good
luck.
But there are still authenti c pieces and whole aircraft
in bar ns: George C. Dade came across a whole JN4 in a
barn thi s last year, and it even turned out to have been
owned by Lindbergh! The EAA Museum came into another
JN4 the same way and the Air power Museum (AAA) hap-
pened on a Standar d Jl some time ago. Keep looki ng ...
Author Leonard Opdycke publishes an excellent publica-
tion called WORLD WAR 1 AEROPLANES, covering the
restoration of World War I aircraft , the building of repli-
cas of these machines and the history of the period. Write
him for details.
(Courtesy George C. Dade)
Right. George C. Dade and the rudder of Lindbergh's
Jenny - recently discovered more or less intact.
15
Golden Oldie Of The Month ...
THE WASP POWERED NORTHROP BETA.
By Jack Cox
Harold Wadleigh (EAA 38884), 22 Ryle Drive, Greens- been built, X963Y and X12214, shown here.
burg, Indiana 47240 (formerly of Chapter 92 in Huntington X963Y was the first Beta and was powered by a 160
Beach, California) sent us the pictures that make possible h. p. Menasco Buccaneer B-6. This inverted, inline six cyl-
this month's Golden Oldie, the Wasp powered Northrop inder engine allowed a long, slender nose that gave the
Beta. plane a very sleek appearance, suggestive of high per-
The Beta was a John K. Northrop design that was con- formance - which it had.
temporary with the Alpha, both having been developed The Buccaneer Beta was introduced to the aviation
through the prototype stage in 1930. The Beta was a small
public with great fanfare by virtue of being gown from the
two place tandem, open cockpit sport plane that, of Burbank factory to the 1931 Detroit aviation trade show,
course, was an embodiment of Northrop's then new con- where it created the hoped-for sensation. For months
cepts in all-metal aircraft construction. This meant stressed afterward, some of the most stylish ads ever to appear in
skin, multi-cellular wings and tail surfaces and a mono-
aviation magazines trumpete'd the Beta's performance on
coque fuselage. Northrop is generally conceded to be the
the flight to Detroit. It had been flown across the Rockies
first to use what we might today call "modern" all metal
via the famed central air mail route rather than the usual
aircraft construction techniques.
southern desert "low altitude" run through Arizona and
The seven place Alpha prototype was put through
New Mexico. This was done to show off the Beta's excel-
certification testing and came out with ATC No. 381, but
lent high altitude performance .. . "Landings and take-
for reasons likely attributable to the Depression, the Beta
offs were made without effort in the high altitudes at
was never certified. A preliminary search through the EAA
Salt Lake City and Cheyenne, Wyoming," spouted one ad.
library has resulted in evidence of only two Betas J;taving
16
The flight from Burbank to Detroit was made in 15
hours and 43 minutes of flying time, averaging 142 mph
while consuming only 8 gallons of fuel per hour ... which
in an open cockpit, 160 h. p. airplane is, indeed, something
to crow about. It would be today. A top speed of 175 mph
and a cruise of 145 were claimed for the Buccaneer Beta.
Sometime in 1931 a second Beta, X12214, was com-
pleted, and this must have been some kind of rip-snorter
- for a Pratt and Whitney Wasp Jr. of300h.p. was hung on
the nose! The Menasco version was a small and admirably
light airplane - 1135 pounds empty weight, a wing span
of 32 feet and a length of 21 feet 8 inches - roughly the
same as a later Ryan STA. So it is easy enough to imagine
why the thoughts of an R-985 thumper up front would set
the heart of any red-blooded helmet and goggles type to
pounding at a rapid rate.
The Wasp Beta is the one shown on this month's cover
and above. Unfortunately, we know virtually nothing about
it. Between Bill Hodges, George Hardie and the author, we
have been able to come up with only two tidbits of info:
a small photo in the December 1931 issue of AVIATION
with a caption stating that the aircraft had recently been
flown across the country by E. T. Allen, and a "for sale"
ad in the December 1932 issue of AERO DIGEST offering
X12214 for $5000 Depression dollars. The ad copy gave 129
hours as the aircraft's total time to date and claimed a top
speed of 212 mph, a cruise of 185 and a landing speed of
65. Aircraft Sales Company, Roosevelt Field, Hangar 0,
Mineola, N. Y. was the seller.
Now, what about it, aviatio{l history hounds? Were
any more Betas built? What happened to these two?
(You guys with the old registration lists ought to be able to
help.) Do any of you remember anything about these
birds? Do you know anyone who flew or worked on
them?
What a shame this design was not produced in quan-
tity. Can you imagine what a desirable antique a Beta -
particularly the Wasp Jr. powered one - would be today!
17
Around The Antique/Classic World
flY-IN TIME
Fur all e),cept you lucky people who livt' in Florida,
California and o ther points south, May is the opening
month of th e new fly-in se<lson. OUf Calendar of Events
section lists seven fly -ins around the country thi s month
dt>\'oled mainly to antique/classic activity. W'e hope some
ofyou \...; 11 lal..(' some pictures, coll ectsome infoa nd share
It with the fest of us in The Vintage Airplane . With two
magazines to gt' l ou t each month, your l'dilor is hard
pressed to get out to man y fly-ins, much as he would like
to attendall of them. Su, give us .1 hand- repor ton those
events all during the summer.
SKYFARER AND CURTI SS PUSHER INFO
Dc.uJack:
The Gener;;l] Skyfar er arti cle las t requests any
:.-mall bi ts ofaddi tiona l inform.ltlo n. Igot thir ty minutes in
oneon 21 September 1945 at the Gardena Valley Airport ,
ius! southofLos Angeles. ModdC1-80, eln 19, compl e ted
9}26!41, NC-4"1801. witha75h.p. LycomingO- 14S-Cengine.
The 1912 Cur tiss Pusher article in the April issue asks
for d ucs ofone numbered 3378, and the rC<l ding sugges ts
it b o nc of "some rcall y ancient photos". Aw, come on,
fellows- leI' s doOllr homt'workbefore w(' perpetuate er-
rors like that, or theyounger generation will really beli eve
it! (Alas, Reverend, i t's already too late. we have staff
members here at EAA who were born AFTER the in tro-
duction of the Bonanza! Frightening, eh? - JBC) Can
you spot the obvious clue to its age and identity? It' s
s taring you right in the face! "3378" - Check thc De-
partnwnl of Commerce ( pre-CAA) register of Identified
Aircraft any time you secil number Jike that, andchances
are it will date in th e lat e '20s or early '305. "3378" was
blllJt from scratch by Otto W. Timm (bornOct. 28, 1893) in
his back yard in Eagle Rock, ,1 suburb northeast of Los
Angeles. in the spring of 1927. It may havi.:.' had modified
Jr\-4CCanuckwi ngs. Andildid havea90 h .p. Cur ti ssOX-
5 L'ngine. A flight photois on page 1184 of"AeroDigest",
Decl'mber 1928. Otto s ho\ved me large photos of it in hi s
scra pbook, with the notati on that it h,ld been built in
March 1927 to the order of AI Wilson. A year (l nd a half
later. \vhen Ti ml11 was completi ng his first "Collegiat e"
(NC-337, which I now own). the Dept. o( Commerce de-
manded .1 seri,l l number. Timm had built dozens of air-
planes si nce Isn1without ever thinking ofserial numbers,
so the prototype "Collegiat t." jus t arbitrari ly was assigned
c n (cons tructor's number) 101. Then the Feds discovered
that Timm had twoearlier ships flying. AI Wilson's "Cur-
ti::.s" Pusher (3378) which got the Mbit rary cln 99, and the
big cabin biplane caBed the Coach or tht., Gulde n Shell
(X54Y9) whi ch was assigned cln 100.
What happened to AI Wilson and hi s Timm "Curti ss"
Pusher? AI lived il t 424 North June St. , Hollywood. Calif.
but he loved to follo\-... the .lir show circui t around the
counlTy, doing exhibition flying with his Pusher. Quoting
John H. Livingston on page 62 of Vol. 3, No. 1 (January -
March 1958)' Journal, Amer ica n Aviation Historica l So-
ciety: "AI Wilson was killed in thi s ship at Cleveland dur-
in); the races in, I believe, 1932. He did not collide with an
Autogiro, butasAl and the Girowere puttingona nexhibi -
tion at the sam(' tinll', the Giro had jus t made a vertical
descent to a landing and as AI fl ew past the stands im-
mediately following, he ranthrough the downwash which
forced him out ofcontroland into the ground."
All the verv best,
BoardrnnnC. Reed. AlC 1069
837 E. Leslie Dr.
San Gabriel. Calif. 91775
FLEET
Dear Jack:
Enjoy the magazine very much and hope to ma ke a
few fly-i ns wi th my Fleet (if I only get it fini shed). Am in
need ofa No. 10 spline prophubformy Kinner 6-54 (125
h. p.).
But what I reall y need is the February iss ue of The
Vintage Airplane . Seem to be missing a nd it looks Ilke
good things are going fast.
Thanks much,
Curtis Zeidlhack, AIC 1036
10025 Emerson So.
Bloomington, Minn. 55431
LA RHONE MANUALS
Dear Sir:
We have a nine cylinder LaRhone rotary engine we
arein the processofres toring. If by chance we ho ped you
may know of some manuals we may be able to buy (or
thi s engine. If you know of any copi es of these or ofany
parts please drop me a card.
David C. Stevenson
Stevenson Aviation, Inc.
P. O. Box 1711
Muskogee, Okla. 7440 1
T-CRAFT
DearJack:
Encl osed is a check for my 1974 Antique-Classic dues.
Also find enclused photos of my 1946Taylorcrafl.
Rea d your comment s in the Augus t issue of The Vin
tage Airplane wonderingwhy someone didn't res tore a T-
Craft to factory origi nal. Please excuse the poor quality
of the pictures as they were s napped with a n Ins tamati c
andamongother things I'm a rotten photographer. I ha\' e
owned thi s airplane sincl:' 1961. It was restored to factory
original in 1972-73. Thi s W,lS easy as far as accuracy goes
si nce th e airplane was factory original, including fabri c,
lip to 1972 when the res torati on was begun. Shiphas new
tires, glass, prop, interior, color is an identical match, the
origi nal fabric was saved and the markings. s tTiping and
tape patt erns \-vere fol1owt.'d faithfully.
Total time since rebuild is 8
1
/2 hours. Total time A&E
since fact ory o ri ginal is 396:30Ius. No work has ever been
done to th e engine as it sti ll rUlls like new.
I assume its one of the lowest total time and most
origi nal T-Crafts in the cou ntry. If you would like a better
picture to print in The Vintage Airplane ll:'t me know. Will
take some better photos with a better camera thi s spring.
Would a lso like to ha ve o ne of the Antique/Classic
Achievement Awards jf I am eligible as I only did about
5%of the \ ...ork. The other95% was accomplished by Lee
McClothl e n Aircraft of Boone, Iowa. I-It.' specia lizt:'s in
fabric work'and is one of th e few craftsmen still around
(at least on a commercial basis). He is an antigue lover,
so he reall y did a bang up job o n mine.
I only caused tht:' to happen by s uppl ying
money - lots of worry, to Taylorcraft Aviation and
not much brain power. If I a m eligible Ihe foll owing info
you might need.
Taylorcraft BC12-D
NC 5020M - Ser. No. 10,320
It' s the o nly T-Cra ft in original colorand markings
seen. Wish more people would treat these as they dothe
J-3 when they restore. Thanks for hearing me out.
Regards,
Dl'an L Swift
7403 Wil-Dcn Dr.
Des Moines, Iowa50322
OSHKOSH HELP
Dear Mr. Hilbert:
In reply 10 "Who Will Mind The SIore'" (The Vintage
Airplane. Mar. '74) may Isay one thing - count me in. 1
will be out of school for the summer about 29 July. I will
try to get 10 Oshkosh ASAP. If you gettime I'd like to take
you arollnd the " patch" in Ihe world 'sgrea test j-3- NC
211OM. Let me know if I havebeen drafted. Thanks.
Jeff Dielz
Box 753, Parks Coll ege,
Cahokia, Ill. 62206
Dear Buck:
I see your appeal in the March issue of The Vintage
Airplane for help from the carly arrivals a t Os hkosh '74.
I planto be therein th e (ampground on Sunday, Mon-
day and Tuesday before the opening. Chapter 152 always
has a blocko flots ons howerroad. Put medown for some
of your volunteer help. I am experienced in paperwork,
maki ng signs, jackleg mechanic with a set of tools, big
talkerandgeneral jack-of-a ll -trades.
I' m 58 years old - not a boy!
Regards,
Ray Lilli e, AIC 944
RI. I , Box 41
Leeds, Ala. 35094
E-2 CUBS
Dear Gene;
Thanks for your letter, and of course you may print
my letter. The Serial No.'s of my E-2 Cubs ar e 97 and84.
The colors of the Cubs will be identical and exactl y as
th ey \,'ere madeat the bctory. Silvt.'r with red trim, which
means a red nose and tail with a red outlined black strjpe
alo ng the hl selage. Fortunately, one of my fuse lages had
theoriginal filbric, so I can effect an exact rt:'storation.
I've got a bunch of A-40 s tuff tha t ( would trade with
other ser ious restorers, and I'm particularly interested in
findingenginesor Serials 312 J{l d 322, which would
be the original engi nes in these planes. (How's that for
being super.luthentic?)
Also, I' ve got some extra E-2 and J-2 par ts, which I"d
be glad to trade to people needing them to complete a
res toration . I hope to seelarge numbersofthe early Cubs,
C-3 Aeroncas an d the early model Taylorcra ft s a t future
fly-ins. We'll have lots more fun as the numbers grow.
You perhaps know that THE T.lylor's son. Robert H.
Taylor of 7203 Shockley Ct., Camp Springs, Md. 20022
hasth e No. "I Cub(whichis serial26)flying no\v. Wouldn't
it be an attraction at th e Nationals?
Will look forward to seei ng you anJ many oth er flying
friends at Oshkosh
Yours truly,
Chester L. Pl'ck
1410 Brookdale
Norman, Okl a. 73069
WACO CUC
Dear Buck:
I am h(lPPY to inform you that Joe Threlkeld, Terry
E. Hockman and myselfhave purc hased a Wacocue 45
placecabin, Lie. No. NC-15213, Ser. No. 4302, Mfg. Aug.
1935. This plane has been conver ted to a YOC model by
removing thE.' original Wright engine and ins talling a R-
755-9 Jacobs 245 h.p.
We bough t it from Kelsey R. Holm('s and the plane is
pretty well rund own. It looks like that wi ll hnveto re-
build the whole plane.
Ia m thrill ed over the Waco as I thought that it would
never happen to me. Plan to come to the EAA Fly-In a nd
get all the information and advice on the res toration of
the great Waco.
Iused to owna Fairchild F-24W46andstill yearn toget
anot her one.
Am a member of the EAA AntiCJuL'-Classic Di vision -
my number is 172.
Reall y like The Vintage Ai rplane and hope it will get
bigger later on. Plan to wnte a story of my Waco for it.
Have taken a lot ofpictures of the Waco for the story.
Hope to hear from YOll soon.
Charl es L. Mitchell, Jr.
4119 N. Beckwilh 51.
Malden. Mo. 6386}
MYSTERY PROP
Dear Sir:
I hav(;' home a wooden prop tha t I can't find any in-
formation o n. Upon returning to school I asked a few of
my instructors and they could n't find any information
either. They then recommended me ttl v"'rite to you.
Hereareall the markings that were o n the prop itself.
Curtiss Pro p
No. 730-R- H
D -8ft. 4 inches
Pitch - 16 ft. 6 inches
Drawing No. 23520
If you can find any information regarding how old
and what aircraft it was o n. Iwould greatly appreciatt it.
Sincerely yours.
Gary W. H"Upl
Box 904, Embrv Riddle
Daylona Beach, Fla. 32015
STINSON TAIL CONE
Dear Buck:
Thi s past winter I boughtandam rebuilding a Stinson
L-SA, N-6653I , SR No. 15025, mfg. May 1943. Ihave o ne
big problem and that is I ca nnot find a tail cone. I have
calledall over Ihe country but no luck. Iwouldlike to have
a notice in Sport Aviation and The Vintage Airplane. I
would buy one .or rent one to take a mold from. Since I
owna fiber-glass shop this is no probl em. Thanks.
Dick Forger, AIC 146
204 Woodspalh Rd .
Liverpool, N. Y. 13088
(3ISI622-3568)
18
Calendar Of Events
MAY 17-19 - WATSONVILLE, CALIFORNIA - 10th Annual West Coast
Antique Fly-In. Antique, Vintage, Classic and Amateur-Built invited.
Static di splays, fl yi ng events, trophies and banqu et. Friday night
get-acqtJainted party. Contact: W. B. Richards, 2490 Greer Rd. , Palo
AI to, Calif. 94303.
MAY 19 - HARVARD, fLLINOIS - Dacy Chapter AAA Fly-In. Dacy Air-
port. Spot landing contes t on initial landing. Contact: Tom Lowe,
823 Kingston Lane, Crystal Lake, Ill . 60014.
MAY 24-27 - GILBERTSVILLE, KENTUCKY - International Swift Associa-
tion Annual Fly-In. Kentucky Dam State Park. Contact: Charlie Nel-
son, P. O. Box 644, Athens, Tenn. 37303.
MAY 24-26 - HAMfLTON, OHIO - Annual National Waco Fly-In. Satur-
day night banque t featuring Clayton J. Brukner as special gues t.
Contact Ray BrandIy, 2650 West Alex.-BeUbrook Rd. , Dayton, Ohio
45459.
MAY 31/JUNE 1-2 - AIKEN, SOUTH CAROLINA - 1974 Old South Fly-
In. Aiken Municipal Airport. Cont act: Old South EAA Fly-In, P. O.
Box 911, Lexington, S. 5=. 29072.
JU NE 7-9 - DENTON, TEXAS - Texas Chapter of Antique Airplane
Association Annual Fly-In. Dent on Municipal Airport. Contact:
Ed McCracken, 1044 East St., Grapevine, Texas 76051.
JUNE 8-9 - BURLINGTON, WISCONSIN - 2nd Annual EAA Antique/
Classic Division Spring Fly-In.
JUNE 13-16 - TULLAHOMA, TENNESSEE - National Staggerwing Club
Fly-In. Contact W. D. "Dub" Yarbrough, Lannom Mfg. Co., Box 500,
Tiruahoma, Tenn. 37388.
JULY 6-7 - LA RUE, WISCONSIN (NEAR BARABOO) - 6th Annual
Antique Transportation Mee t. Antique airplanes and air games,
steam train rides, antiqu e car games and hill climb, s wap meet.
Fun for the whol e family. NO landing or parking faciliti es for
modern aircraft. Contact: Edward C. Wegner, 10 Stafford St., Ply-
mouth, Wise. 53075.
JULY20-21- SHIRLEY, N. Y. (LONG ISLAND)-12th Annual Fly-In of the
Antique Airplane Club of Greater New York at Brookhaven Town
Airport . Dinner dance on Saturday nigh t. Contact Harry E. Geddes,
Sec., 374 Latham Rd., Mineola, N. Y. 11051 (516) 746-3453.
JULY 31 - AUGUST 1 - FOND DU LAC, WISCONSIN - Antique/Classic
Division Participation in EAA/IAC Aerobatic Contest. Spin, Loop
and Roll Competition on August 1. Contact: Don Taylor, Contest
Chairman, 2 ChandeUe Drive, Hampshire, fll . 60140, (312) 683-2244.
JULY 31-AUGUST 6 - OSHKOSH, WISCONSIN - NEW DATES - 22nd
Annual EAA International Fly-In Convention. Largest and best Antique
and Classic gathering anywhere. Make your plans and reservati ons
early.
AUGUST 25-SEPTEMBER 2 - BLAKESBURG, IOWA - Fourth Annual
National Invitational AAAfAPM Fly-In - Antique Airfield.
AUGUST 30-SEPTEMBER 2 - OTI1JMWA, IOWA - Ottumwa Antique
Airplane Convention. Ottumwa Airport. Sponsored by Antique Air-
men, Inc. Contact: J. C. "Chuck" Weber, 441 Berry Rd. , Barrington,
Ill . 60010.
SEPTEMBER 13-1 5 - GALESBURG, fLLINOIS - 3rd National Stearman
Fly-In. Contact: Jim Leahy, 445 N. Whit esboro, Galesburg, IU. 61401
OR Tom Lowe, 823 Kingston Lane, Crystal Lake, Ill . 60014.
Back Issues OfThe Vintage Airplane
Limited numbers of back issues of '!HE VINTAGE AIRPLANE are available at ,SOC each. Copies still on
hand at EAA Headquarters are:
March 1973 June 1973 August 1973 October 1973 December 1973 February 1974
April 1973 July 1973 September 1973 November 1973 January 1974 March 1974
May 1973 . ApriIl974
Mexi can Fleet - owned by Marcial Sanchez of Lomas de Sotel o, Mexi co.
19