JANUARY 2011

STRAIGHT & LEVEL

GEOFF ROBISON
PRESIDENT, VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

Setting a course for 2011

Happy New Year to each and every
member of the Vintage Aircraft Association. Heres wishing you all a successful and prosperous 2011.
What will 2011 bring to us? Time
will tell, but we can likely assume that
there will be a mixture of more attempts to modify, restrict, or in some
cases, even deny us the opportunity
to further enjoy our rights to our aviation-related passions.
One example of course is the FAAs
continuing initiative to eliminate
through-the-fence (TTF) operations
at public-use airports. Where is the
common sense? Come on, the mice
running around in my hangar represent a lot more risk to me than the
guy with a key to a gate he can taxi
his Cessna through. We have seen
some movement on the federal governments part to continue the discussions and even delay implementation
of its goals to lock out these users.
Even though these TTF arrangements
have existed for years, and to date
have yet to represent any real threat
to our security, these government officials do seem to be polite, but very
much resolute.
Where would we be today without those valued congressional members of the aviation caucus, our vocal
EAA/VAA membership, and the EAAs
advocacy initiatives? For certain, our
access to the general aviation (GA)
system would be much more limited today. So where is this all going?
What new initiatives will our government propose in the next 12 months?
You have to wonder who in the world
is really driving this truck down the

left lane of GAs highway! What will

we be talking about next January that
got pushed up the pipe during 2011?
What are the real goals of the FAA,
and the Transportation Security Administration, regarding regulatory
issues for GA? The best we can do today is to stay informed, continue to
be engaged, and reach out to local
legislators, especially when they get
it right. They need to know they are
supported in their efforts to defend
GA. Lets all stay the course.
I recently reread a column that was
written and published in the January
issue of Vintage Airplane magazine right
after the events of 9/11. The guest column was written by our own Tom Poberezny, and he eloquently wrote of
what the terrorists did to damage general aviation on that fateful day. Not
to dismiss the tragic loss of the thousands of American lives that occurred
on that day, but Tom did a wonderful
job of describing to the membership
what we needed to do next to counteract these horrific circumstances.
He said, We need to protect, promote, preserve, and prepare. These are
the four fundamental pillars of maintaining Americas free skies.
I will personally never forget that
day or the nagging thoughts of What
will become of our rights to pursue
our personal aviation interests?
Tom continued, Protect our right
to fly, and turn these negatives into
positives by staying the course with our
existing ongoing initiatives, whether
it be through Young Eagles, advocacy
initiatives, or communications.
He also stated that we should pro-

mote access to the dream of flight.

This is an easy one, and can be mostly
accomplished by promoting membership in the EAA/VAA, and by simply writing that check to renew your
own membership.
To accomplish Toms third pillar,
Preserve the heritage of flight, just
visit the EAA AirVenture Museum to
see what your EAA organization routinely does to preserve our aviation
heritage. This is why we still operate
one of the few remaining B-17s, build a
Bleriot, or restore an old Waco biplane.
And finally, Tom promoted preparing for the future of flight. Please
continue to reach out to our youth,
and pave that path to a life of aviation, whether its through the sponsorship of a young person to EAAs Air
Academy at Oshkosh or your chapter
participating with a Boy Scout Troop
to accomplish their aviation merit
badge.
The interesting element here is that
Toms remarks of nine years ago remain very much relevant to the organization today. Because of the events
of 9/11, we need to continue to meet
our challenges head on, challenges
that will not always come from the
FAA. We truly are an entity that makes
remarkable things happen. Lets all
strive to help make a difference in this
ongoing debate.
Remember, its time to run your
checklist and buckle your seat belts,
because 2011 is shaping up to be yet
another exciting year for the Vintage
Aircraft Association.

A I R P L A N E
Vol. 39, No. 1

2011

january

CONTENTS
IFC Straight & Level
Setting a course for 2011
by Geoff Robison

News

The May Familys Spectacular 1936 Sportster

Rearwin popularity is proof of Rearwin superiority
by Sparky Barnes Sargent

10

Type Club Listing

14

The Antiques in Winter

If airplanes could talk . . ., Part II
by Roger Thiel

16

My Friend Frank Rezich, Part IV

The war years
by Robert G. Lock

22

Light Plane Heritage

The Longren Biplane
by Jack McRae

24

2010 VAA Hall of Fame Inductee

Morton W. Lester
by Jack Cox and Morton Lester

28

24

The Vintage Mechanic

Test flights
by Robert G. Lock

32

The Vintage Instructor

Was that a landing? Or was it a carnival ride?
by Steve Krog, CFI

34

Mystery Plane
by H.G. Frautschy

37

Classified Ads

COVERS

FRONT COVER: The Reawin marque seems to be a popular subject for a few recently completed

projects in the Antique airplane community. This is the May familys Rearwin Sportster, originally built
in the fall of 1936. Read more about it in Sparky Barnes Sargents article starting on page 4. Photo
by Bonnie Kratz.
BACK COVER: Continuing our salute to great aviation magazine covers of the past, Model Airplane
News has been a fixture within the modeling community for over 80 years, and is still going strong.
This great cover, from September of 1934, created by famed illustrator Jo (Josef) Kotula depicts the
Italian dual-engined seaplane racer, the Macchi-Castoldi 72 racer of 1933/34.

STAFF

EAA Publisher
Director of EAA Publications
Executive Director/Editor
Production/Special Project
Photography
Copy Editor
Senior Art Director
EAA Chairman of the Board

Rod Hightower
Mary Jones
H.G. Frautschy
Kathleen Witman
Jim Koepnick
Colleen Walsh
Olivia P. Trabbold
Tom Poberezny

Publication Advertising:
Manager/Domestic, Sue Anderson
Tel: 920-426-6127
Email: sanderson@eaa.org
Fax: 920-426-4828
Senior Business Relations Mgr, Trevor Janz
Tel: 920-426-6809
Email: tjanz@eaa.org
Manager/European-Asian, Willi Tacke
Phone: +49(0)1716980871 Email: willi@flying-pages.com
Fax: +49(0)8841 / 496012

Interim Coordinator/Classified, Alicia Canziani

Tel: 920-426-6860
Email: classads@eaa.org

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 1

VAA NEWS
Naval Aircraft Get Extreme Makeovers
Help celebrate naval aviation centennial at Oshkosh
EAA AirVenture 2011 is a designated Tier 1 event for the Centennial of Naval Aviation celebration this year, so get ready for
a host of special appearances and activities in Oshkosh next July. While many initiatives have yet to be announced, one
special treat is confirmed and well underway: repainting several current inventory airplanes in colors from previous eras.
Its all part of our outreach to help celebrate the centennial of naval aviation, said Capt. Richard Dann, director of history
and outreach for the centennial. Were attempting to teach about the heritage, which many people may not be aware of.
Examples include a pair of T-45 Goshawks painted in yellow-winged, pre-World War II tactical aircraft schemes; an S-3B
Viking done up in the colors of naval airplanes that fought in the Battle of Midway; an MH-60S Seahawk helicopter painted
like those of Helicopter Attack (Light) Squadron THREE (HAL-3) Seawolf fire teams from the Vietnam era; and an F/A-18F
with a truly unique scheme modeled after the current Navy Working Uniform.
These aircraft in every manner of heritage paint will take part in designated Tier 1 eventsincluding AirVenture
Oshkosh 2011, Dann said. Although he could not commit
to which airplanes would be par ticipating at Oshkosh,
he indicated that several of the approximately 26 aircraft
will appear.
To see a photo gallery of some of the airplanes you could
see at Oshkosh this summer, visit EAAs Facebook page.
You can also learn more about Centennial of Naval Aviation events, including the Curtiss-Ely Pusher replica (at
right) built for the celebration, on page 20 of the January
issue of Sport Aviation.

Advance AirVenture
Admissions, Camping, Flights
Now Available Online
Advance purchase of AirVenture 2011 admission and camping
is now available on the AirVenture
website, and this year you can prepurchase camping at AirVentures
Camp Scholler for all arrival dates.
With rates remaining the same
as last year, EAA members and nonmembers can make prepurchases
via a secure website, allowing ticket
holders to speed through the admissions process. Both daily and
weekly admissions are available, as
is the ability to join EAA and immediately receive the best possible
admission prices available only to
EAA members. Discounts are available to those who prepurchase AirVenture tickets online before June
15, 2011, including $2 on daily
adult admissions and $5 on weekly
adult admissions.

2 JANUARY 2011

Camp Scholler opens on June

24, 2011, and those who make an
advance purchase for camping get
the convenience of express registration at the campground entrance,
including specially designated lines
on peak arrival dates.
Advance admission ticketing
is made possible through support from Jeppesen. To get your
advanced admission, visit www.
AirVenture.org/tickets.
Also new for 2011, attendees can
pre-purchase fl ights on EAAs 1929
Ford Tri-Motor, joining advance
purchase flights of EAAs B-17 Aluminum Overcast.

Win a Skycatcher
From Cessna and EAA!
Entering to win an airplane has
never been easier. Weve made it
simple to enter the 2011 EAA Share
the Spirit Sweepstakes. Youll find
10 entry coupons bundled with this

issue of Sport Aviation. The coupons

are filled out and ready to mail in.
You can also enter online at www.
AirVenture.org/sweepstakes or during
AirVenture 2011but why wait?
The grand prize is a Cessna 162
Skycatcher, along with fuel for a
year courtesy of Shell Aviation.
Youll also have a chance to win
a 2011 Coleman camperfactory
new and loaded with features. Other
great prizes include a HotSeat Flight
Sim GTX Extreme PC Bundle, Bose
321 GSX Series III DVD home entertainment system, Canon EOS
50D camera kit with lens, and Hamilton Mens Khaki Pilot watch.
EAA thanks all sweepstakes participants for helping grow aviation. Every donation to the EAA
Sweepstakes directly supports EAA
programs. These programs help
members share the spirit of aviation
among fellow enthusiasts and the
next generation of aviators.

VAA/EAA AirVenture Volunteers of the Year

Each year, near the end of the annual fly-in, the Vintage Aircraft Association honors two of its own as volunteers of the year. Each typifies the amazing talents and dedication exhibited by the hundreds of VAA volunteers
who contribute thousands of hours of their time so their fellow members can have an enjoyable week away from
home, immersed in the glories of recreational aviation. Here are this years honorees:

EAA AirVenture 2010 Art Morgan Flightline Volunteer of the YearBradford Payne
Bradford Payne is a longtime EAA volunteer who has been coming to AirVenture since 1971. A professional pilot since 1994, and
a current United Air Lines pilot, Brad earned his pilot certificate in
1986. From the beginning it was his destiny to become the aviation guru he is. He grew up in Dayton, Ohio, just three blocks from
the Wright brothers house, and his uncle was Orvilles paperboy!
For many years, Brads entire family attended EAAs air show as
a family vacation. Each of them has volunteered at EAA at some
point. Brad and his brothers were particularly interested in the VAA,
where they could ride the scooters! Bradford has been a flight line
volunteer since 1984, and for volunteers who want to learn more
Geoff Robison, Bradford Payne and
about our aircraft, he teaches several aircraft identification classes
George Daubner.
during the fly-in. With his experience as a member of the National
Intercollegiate Flying Association, where he competed in aircraft recognition, Bradford truly is an expert in
identifying and explaining the differences among the various aircraft, and he does an impressive job teaching
others how to learn to identify aircraft as well. Bradford also creates an information sheet each year for every
type club aircraft we will be parking in the Vintage area as well as special identification fliers to help every volunteer become familiar with the aircraft in our division. Brad is one of the volunteers who can wear any hat
and work any of the positions on the flightlineand is willing to do so! He continues to add to the VAA membership. Before they married, he told Jennifer, his then future wife, Oshkosh is a non-negotiable part of the
relationship. Jennifer has also become a vital part of our division, and by this summer, they will have added
a total of two upcoming members to our organization, as they will welcome their second child! Brad loves airplanes but enjoys the company of all the other volunteers in the VAA. He feels like he fits right in because it is
the one place his passion for aircraft is shared by so many others! He looks forward to attending every year. For
him, its Christmas in July!
Congratulations, Bradford Payne, on receiving the annual Art Morgan Flight Line Volunteer of the
Year award!

EAA AirVenture 2010 Behind-the-Scenes Volunteer of the YearTom Hildreth

If there ever was a volunteer who never says no to a request,
that would be Tom Hildreth. Tom has been volunteering at school
when he was a teacher, singing in his church, and calling square
dances, his special love.
Over several years, Tom has done everything from electrical
work (helper) to carpentry work (he recently helped put in new
flooring in the judges trailers) to helping install air conditioners
and many other tasks. During the most recent work parties, however, he has been proven to be the Michelangelo of VAA painters.
He has put a brush to almost every metal color building on the
landscape. We all wonder how he seems to get all of the paint on
the buildings and none on himself; its uncanny.
Geoff Robison with Tom Hildreth.
During AirVenture, at the Tall Pines Cafe, he is the head cashier, VAA breakfast greeter, official head counter, and pancake
historian. He remembers hundreds of our guests and never fails to inquire about their families and flying buddies.
Tom also has been a frequent soloist during the religious services in the EAA Fergus Chapel during AirVenture.
If you ask Tom to do something, you had better get out of his way; before you know it, hes already on the job.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 3

T h e M a y F a m i l y s

Spectacular
1936 Sportster

BY

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

4 JANUARY 2011

Rearwin popularity is proof of Rearwin superiority

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ressed in
a custom blackand-white scalloped paint scheme,
replete with gold trim and
chrome accents, the May familys
Rearwin Sportster conjures a spectacular image of dapper 1930s blacktie formality, from its classy cowl
right down to its wheel spats. Its an
aeronautical treasure that just keeps
improving with age, thanks to the efforts of one Nebraskan family.
BO

Rearwin Sportster
Its estimated that Rearwin Airplanes, which was based at the
Fairfax Airport in Kansas City,
manufactured approximately 50 of
the Model 8500s, and today, only
seven are listed on the FAA Registry. The Model 8500 was similar to
the earlier Model 7000, except it was
powered by an 85-hp LeBlond 5DF
engine and was endowed with a few
extra features. Marketed primarily as
a sportsmans airplane, the tandem
design measured 22 feet 3 inches
from spinner to tailskid and had a
wingspan of 35 feet. The Sportsters
gross weight was 1,460 pounds, it
had a useful load of 830 pounds,
and with its roomy tandem cabin,
its baggage compartment carried at
least 50 pounds. A 12-gallon fuel
tank was in each wing, and with a
5 gph fuel burn, the Sportster could
cruise 103 mph at 1900 rpm, thus
offering a 480-mile range.
A 1936 advertisement for the

Sportster Model
7000 proudly announced: Rearwin
popularity is truly international. The
shipment of two
Rearwin Sportsters now on
the way to Airtaxi Company,
Lt., Cape Town,
Union of South
Africa, proves international endorsement of Rearwin engineering skill, Rearwin
craftsmanship and Rearwin high
quality. The Modernistic lines of this
marvelous plane represent streamlining at its best.
In 1937, Rearwin Airplanes marketing slogan declared: Rearwin
popularity is proof of Rearwin superiority. As touted in era advertising, a
Rearwin pilots letter to the company
stated: Everywhere the smart appearance, efficiency and economy of
the Sportster elicited most favorable
comment.Capt. Wm. W. Ford,
Richmond, Ky. The company also
highlighted the Sportsters capabilities by stating that it had the fastest take-off, quickest climb, highest
ceiling, [and] slowest landing in the
$2000-$3500 class[and a] roomy,
luxurious cabin with unexcelled visibility in all directions. And its easy
to own a Rearwin for you need pay
only one-third down.

N16473
The May familys Model 8500,
N16473 (serial number 502), fl ew
away from its birthplace in Kansas City in September 1936, its LeBlond radial purring happily with
a Flottorp birch propeller spinning
on its nose. Landing in Hastings,
Nebraska, under the care of Frank
Cushing, its lustrous red factory
finish, highlighted by a dark blue
stripe and gold pinstriping was admired by onlookers. The Sportster
changed hands again in July 1937,

when Dr. Otto Kostal purchased

it. Kostal kept it in good stead until April 1945, when he sold it to
Ed Swan in Kearney, Nebraska.
By then, the tailskid had been replaced with a castering tail wheel.
Swan, who was a good friend of
Jerry May, enjoyed the airplane
until he sold it to Harold Olson of
Minden, Nebraska, in 1952.
Jerry, who had become wellacquainted with the Sportster, recalls, The aileron ribs were rotted
by that point and had to be replaced.
So they decided theyd switch over
to metal Piper Cub ribs, since that
would be easier to do than making
wood ribsbut the inspector said,
No, you cant change the design
of the aircraft. They got disgusted,
and finally they pushed the airplane
outside and tied it down, where it
sat for almost three years. Anyway,
I asked him about the Rearwin one
day, because I had known this aircraft almost all its whole life. We
got together on a price finally, and I
went ahead and bought it in June of
1954Ive had it ever since.
At first, Jerry figured he might
end up using the airplane for parts,
but he was instead admonished by
his knowledgeable father to restore
it. Together, they brought it back to
flying condition. The Rearwin was,
in retrospect, the first member of
Jerrys own family, for he wouldnt
meet and marry his lovely bride,
Vivian, until 1963. I rebuilt it and
flew it for 20-some years, says
Jerry, a gentle-mannered man with
a pleasant, unassuming personality.
Then we decided it needed to be
re-covered, because it had cotton A
on it, he explains, but this time,
all kinds of projects of everybody
elses got in the way for all these
years. I didnt get it done as soon as
I wanted to, but about three years
ago, I said, Its got to get finished
now! So we started in on it and put
in actually about a year and a half
of really serious work.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 5

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT

JAY TOLBERT

Three generations of the May family (L-R): Mark and daughter, Amelia;
Mike; Vivian; Jerry; and Mikes son, Josh.

One Generation
After Another
The May family comes by aviation honestlyits just in their
genes. Jerrys father, Walter, learned
to fly in 1926 and barnstormed with
Harold Warp [of Minden, Nebraskas Pioneer Village fame, and
the founder of Warp Brothers PlasticsEditor] in matching Swallow
biplanes. Jerrys eldest son, Mark,
shares additional highlights of his
grandfathers aviation career: My
grandfather was an A&E, and was
an excellent mechanic and welder,
and also a machinist. He was a
great pilot, and was friends with

6 JANUARY 2011

Amelia Earhart and Charles Lindbergh. He was a [welding instructor] for Swallow Aircraft. He worked
with Walter Beech, Lloyd and Waverly Stearman, and all the wonderful people at Swallow Aircraft.
He also worked for my great-uncle
Glen Morton, of Morton Aircraft, in
Omaha. Later, he started Mays Aircraft Service Inc. with my father in
Minden, Nebraska. My grandfather
was instrumental in my father buying the Rearwin, and both of them
restored it the first time.
When Jerry and Vivian had their
own sons, Jerry happily influenced
the youngsters by taking them

down to his shop at the airport at

an early age. Vivian lent a helping
hand when needed with the airplane projects and laughs good-naturedly when she explains, I just
go along with them, and do a lot of
cooking and praying for them! And
keep them happythey have strong
wills, all three of them.
Aviating and working on airplanes naturally evolved into a way
of life for the sons. Mike, the youngest son, reflects, Since I grew up
with it, I thought everybody had
airplanesthen Id go to school,
and they were like, Whats an airplane? Mike works with the family
business, Mays Aircraft Services, and
is working toward his inspection
authorization (IA) rating. His son,
Josh, also does aircraft maintenance
for the family business. Mark, who
has his IA, has his own corporate
maintenance facility, AOG Aircraft
Services in Watkins, Coloradoand
shares his love for aviation with his
young daughter, Amelia.

Teamwork
The family worked together as a
team to breathe new life into their
languishing Sportster. Fortunately,
they didnt have to do any extensive
hunting for parts, since the airframe
and engine were complete. As for paperwork, Jerry says, I have all of the

it would be more attractive that

way, he says, adding with a gentle
laugh, and not being much for the
red paint, I figured that would be the
thing to do! That is the original kind
of stripe that was on the aircraft, and
the lettering on the fin is also in the
exact location and what was on it
from the factory. I painted it with a
stencil, and had a friend do the gold
pinstripe around the stripe. Then I
decided to spruce it up a little more
by adding the scalloping, which I did
on every fourth rib, and of course on
the tail section.

Custom Touches

JAY TOLBERT

In addition to those scallops, another detail that really dresses up

the Sportster is the chromewhich,

Mark readily admits with a big smile,
is my fault. He just likes chrome
and youll see it on the rudder pedals,
the custom kick plates on the new
wood floorboards just below the pedals, the control sticks, the door handle and stepeven the vented fuel
caps. There are custom-made chrome
cowling washers, as well, which bear
the Rearwin name.
Another shiny touch is the custom gold lettering on the varnished
wood baggage compartment door
and the wing root area surrounding
the fuel gauges. Over the front seat, a
skylight lights up the plush, soft gray
leather upholstery and highlights
the first-class interior..

The simple and original instrument panel includes a Zenith height meter.

SPARKY BARNES SARGENT PHOTOS

airframe and engine logs all the way

back, even the service bulletins from
the factory. I had everything for the
project, which is very rare, and the
airplane has never been wrecked in
its whole life.
Still, wood and fabric deteriorate
over time, and various parts needed
repair. New wood ribs for the wings
and ailerons were made by using a
rib fixture based on the original rib
patterns, and the original spars were
stripped and inspected for cracks and
dry rot. Surprisingly, they were found
to be in airworthy condition and
were reused, along with the original
brackets, fittings, and drag wires. The
wood turtledeck was repaired, and
all of the wood components received
three coats of spar varnish. New
aluminum leading-edge skins were
installed, new control cables were
fabricated, and new tinted Lexan was
used for the three-piece windshield
(later models had a formed, curved
one-piece windshield). Finally, Ceconite fabric was installed and finished
with Air-Tech Coatings.
The instruments are all original,
says Jerry, and it doesnt have an altimeter, because it has a nonsensitive
Zenith height meterthere are very
few of them around. The compass
was missing; somebody had put a
little Airpath compass in it, so Mike
found this bubble-faced one in California, which is the original type for
the aircraft.
During the Rearwins previous restoration, it was painted green. This
time, Jerry decided upon the blackand-white paint scheme. I thought

The Sportster uses easily available

800x4 tires, thanks to a special
ring that sizes the original 3-inch
wheel to a 4-inch wheel.

The lettering on the tail is in keeping with the original.

The large windows, skylight, and

original-type three-piece windshield
provide excellent visibility.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 7

Jerry thought of a nifty way to add

corrosion protection to two specific areas of the airplane. A friend of mine
applied a spray-on black coatinglike
you put in the bed of a pickup truck
behind the speed ring and also inside
the wheelpants. It keeps it lightweight
and stiffens that speed ringit stays
round when you mount it and tighten
the bolts. It really makes a world of
difference, and Id recommend that
its the way to go!

generally run about 40 to 45 mph

on final. Its slow, and it lands at 35
mph. Its very easy to fly, and we
make three-point landings because
we like that better anyway.
Speaking of landings, the Model
8500 originally had Goodyear 18x8-3
tires and standard Rearwin oleo
shock absorbers. Those balloon tires
are nonexistent now, says Jerry, but
Bob Lamb in California was making
rings to put over the wheels to convert them to 4 inchesjust like a Cub

LeBlond
The Model 8500s 85-hp LeBlond
5DF was manufactured by LeBlond
Aircraft Engine Corporation of Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a five-cylinder,
air-cooled radial, and an Eclipse Type
Y-150 starter was optional, as was a
Jones Motorola fuel pump. For lubrication, it had a dry-sump, doublegear-type pump with both scavenger
and pressure gears in a single unit.
It weighed 220 pounds and sold for
$1,250 at the factory.
Parts availability for such an engine is a primary concern these days.
Years ago, there were a few parts still
available. I had bought parts for a 70hp engine that I did for another aircraft, and when I did that, I thought,
Theyre going to become sparse. So
I bought extra valve springs, bushings, pins, pistons, and those types
of items, Jerry explains, so I had
my supply. Then when I overhauled
it this time, I had them available to
usebut now, there are no extras left!
One thing we did add this time was an
Airwolf filter, because we thought it
would be beneficial.

Flying the Sportster

To the familys delight, the Sportster returned to the Nebraska sky
again in September 2007. Describing
its flying characteristics, Jerry says,
It has great visibility, and its a very
stable airplane. On takeoff, its pretty
docileyou just push the stick all
the way forward, and it picks the tail
up and doesnt run very far. It will
fly off the ground, fully loaded, at 40
mph. If you really want to climb, it
will climb at about a 45-degree angle. During approach to landings, we

8 JANUARY 2011

wheel. He had the approval, and I installed the kit during the first rebuild.
So we just reused those rings and used
Cub 800x4 tires. It has multi-disc mechanical brakesone disc is stationary, the next moves with the wheel,
and so on. When you push the heel
brakes with your feet, it pulls the arm
out and squeezes them togetherit
has excellent brakes. Those pads are
nonexistent now, too, but these are
still in great shape, and I think theyll
last for many years. The aircraft was
built way ahead of its time, really;
there are a lot of things on it you see
years and years laterso Rearwin had
some really great ideas.
Describing the landing gear, Mike
says, There is a coil inside the shock
on the main landing gearits a hydraulic spring shock. It has an orifice
hole, a metal plunger, and rebound
springsand its the neatest, softest
gear! You can bounce it hard, and it
feels like you hardly touched.

Warm Memories
Ask any member of the May family, and theyll tell you that what
they like most about their treasured
Rearwin is that its a family airplane.
Mike and I remember the fuselage
sitting in the garage on its landing
gear, says Mark with a smile, and
playing in itso its always been part
of our lives. Josh, tickled by his uncles comment, chuckles and says, It
was in that stage when we were little
kids, too! To which the entire family
laughs heartily.
Reminiscing, Mark says, Back in
the old days we used to all four go in
the airplane. Mike would sit on Moms
lap, and wed trade in flightId go to
the back and hed go to the front. I
was 5 years old the last time that I flew
itwe had a Sears catalog underneath
me, and I was making landings. Id
flare, and Dad would do the rudder
pedals. So I have a lot of good memories with the airplane. It was a big part
of my grandfathers life, too.
At age 73, this Sportster Model
8500 has only 575 hours total time,
and around 35 hours since its recent restoration. Jerry has logged
100 hours on it during the years hes
had it flyingand that number will
no doubt increase as the May family
enjoys creating new memories with
their Rearwin. The well-deserved
accolades that N16473 received
contribute to those memories; it
garnered the Customized Aircraft
Champion - Bronze Lindy at AirVenture 2009, and the Grand Champion, Rearwin Family, and Texas
Chapter awards at Blakesburg 2008.
Theres one thing for certain
when Jerry embraces a new member
of his familywhether human or
airplaneits for keeps. Hes owned
the Rearwin Sportster for 55 years
and his Luscombe 8A for 51 years.
I do hang on to things, he says
with a broad, contented smile, adding, My wife feels safe! Weve been
married for 46 years. To which Vivian quickly laughs and responds,
The older you get around him, the
safer you are! With that said, the future of the May familys Rearwin is
well-secured.

AUA is Vintage Aircraft Association approved. To become a member of VAA call 800-843-3612.

Aviation insurance with the EAA Vintage Program offers:

Lower premiums with payment options QAdditional coverages
On-line quote request available QAUA is licensed in all states

Flexibility on the use of your aircraft

Q

The best is affordable. Give AUA a call its FREE!

Experienced agents

Q

Remember, Were Better Together!

800-727-3823
Fly with the pros fly with AUA Inc.
www.auaonline.com

This aircraft type club information is listed on our

website, www.vintageaircraft.org, throughout the
year. We list it here for your added convenience.
These groups can be a great resource for you.
A Type Club can save you money, keep you from
making mistakes others have already made, show
you how to restore, maintain and fly your airplane
in short, provide the equivalent of many years of
hard won experience at a very low cost.
Aeronca Aviators Club
Robert Szego
P.O. Box 66
Coxsackie, NY 12051
518-731-3131
staff@aeronca.org, www.aeronca.org
Dues: $29 1-yr, $55 2-yrs;
Intl $37 1-yr, $69 2-yrs
Aeronca Aviator, Qtrly
Fearless Aeronca Aviators (f-AA)
John Rodkey
280 Big Sur Dr.
Goleta, CA 93117
805-968-1274
poobahster@gmail.com
http://aeronca.westmont.edu
Dues: None
National Aeronca Association
Jim Thompson
304 Adda Street
Roberts, IL 60962
nationalaeroncaassociation@yahoo.com
www.aeroncapilots.com
Auster Club
Stuart Bain
31 Swain Court
Lake Ronkonkoma
New York, NY 1179
9
631-285-1095
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memsec@austerclub.org,
www.austerclub.org

Bird Airplane Club

Jeannie Hill
P.O. Box 328
Harvard, IL 60033-0328
815-943-7205
Postage donation
American Bonanza Society
J. Whitney Hickman Exec. Dir.
Mid-Continent Airport
PO Box 12888
Wichita, KS 67277
316-945-1700
absmail@bonanza.org
www.bonanza.org
$55/yr. US/Canada
ABS Magazine, Monthly
National Bcker Jungmiester Club
Celesta Price
300 Estelle Rice Dr.
Moody, TX 76557
254-853-9067

Beech Aero Club

ub.
b.org
b.
orgg
www.beechaeroclub.org

Bcker Club
Newsletter Editor
Gordon Clement
Bucker131@comcast.net
Website Editor
Stephen Beaver
sbeaver@columbus.rr.com
614-937-4189
www.bucker.info

nc.
nc
T-34 Association, Inc.
d, 9
000
00
0E
880 North County Road
Road,
900-E
-7560
Tuscola, IL 61953-7560
membership@T-34.com, www.t-34.com
$50/yr Paper; $25 Electronic
Mentor Monitor, Qtrly

Buhl LA-1 Bull Pup Owners Group

William R. Bill Goebel
894 Heritage Creek Dr.
Rhome, TX 76078
940-627-5938
g
goebelhome@embarqmail.com

ub
Bellanca-Champion Club
Robert Szego
P.O. Box 100
Coxsackie, NY 12051
518-731-6800
staff@bellanca-championclub.com
ionc
ncclub
nc
llu
lub
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b.co
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on
ncclu
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www.bellanca-championclub.com
$38 1-yr, $72 2-yrs;
Intl $43 1-y, $81 2-yrs
s
act! Qtrly
Publication: B-C Contact!,

In
International
Bird Dog Association (L-19/O-1)
Dan Kelly
D
343 Texas Heritage Dr.
3
LLaVernia, TX 78121
830-391-4120
8
dankelly@gvec.net
d
www.IBDAweb.com
w
$30/yr US; $50 Intl
$
E-newsletter Monthly
E

10 JANUARY 2011

Cessna 150/152 Club

Lori Parsons
P.O. Box 1917
Atascadero, CA 93423-1917
805-461-1958
membership@cessna150152.com
www.cessna150152.com
$35/yr Internet; $45/yr Print U.S.
Intl see website
Publication: 6/yr
Cessna Flyer Association
Jennifer Dellenbusch
jen@aviationgroupltd.com, www.cessnaflyer.org
$40/yr
Cessna Owner Organization
Dan Weiler, Executive Director
N7450 Aanstad Rd
Iola, WI 54945
1-888-692-3776
www.cessnaowner.org
$49.95/yr; or $29.95 Online
Cessna magazine: Monthly
Cessna Pilots Association
John Frank, Exec. Director
3940 Mitchell Rd.
Santa Maria, CA 93455
805-934-0493
www.cessna.org
$55 US, Canada, Mexico;
$70 Intl
CPA Magazine, Monthly
E-ATIS Electronic Wkly
Cessna T-50 The Flying Bobcats
Jon D. Larson
P.O. Box 566
Auburn, WA 98071
253-670-8218
om
skykingjon@hotmail.com
2/bobca
at
www.angelfire.com.mi2/bobcat
nfo
Contact club for dues info
Publication: Qtrly
Eastern Cessna 190/195 Association
Cliff Crabs
25575 Butternut Ridge Road
North Olmsted, OH 44070
440-777-4025
ccrabs@aol.com
$15 initial, then as required
Publication: 4/yr

Fairchild Club
Mike Kelly
92 N. Circle Dr.
Coldwater, MI 49036
517-278-7654
hotfoot49@hotmail.com
www.fairchildclub.org
$20/yr
Publication: Qtrly
International Cessna 120/140 Association
Christian Vehrs, President
P.O. Box 830092
Richardson, TX 75083-0092
770-460-6164
president@cessna120-140.org
www.cessna120-140.org
$25/yr US,Canada; $35/yr Intl
Publication: 6/yr
International Cessna 170 Assoc.
22 Vista View Ln.
Cody, WY 82414
307-587-6397
headquarters@cessna170.org
www.cessna170.org
$45/yr
170 News, Qtrly
International Cessna 180/185 Club
Bob Warner
P.O. Box 306
Van Alstyne, TX 75495
903-482-1805
president@skywagons.org
www.skywagons.org
$25/yr
Publication: 6/yr
International Cessna 195 Club
Coyle Schwab
632 N. Tyler Rd.
St. Charles, IL 60174
630-513-7002
coyle.schwab@sbcglobal.net
www.cessna195.org
$25/yr
Web area for Members Only
Corben Club
Robert Taylor
P.O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$18 for 3 magazines
Culver Club
Brent Taylor
P.O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$18 for 3 issues
de Havilland Moth & Chipmunk Club
David M. Harris
2024 75th St
Kenosha, WI 53143
262-652-7043
mothflyer@gmail.com
Paper Tiger, Electronic
Ercoupe Owners Club
Carolyn T. Carden
P.O. Box 7117
Ocean Isle Beach, NC 28469
69
9
910-575-2758
coupecaper@aol.com
www.ercoupe.org
$25/yr Electronic
$30/yr Paper US; $35 Paper Intl
Coupe Capers, Monthly

Fairchild Fan Club

Robert L. Taylor
P. O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$18 for 3 issues. Fairchild Fan
International Fleet Club
Jim Catalano
8 Westlin Ln.
Cornwall, NY 12518
845-534-3947
fleetclub@mac.com
http://web.mac.com/fleetclub
Contributions
Publication: 3-4/yr
Funk Aircraft Owners Association
www.funkflyers.org faoanews@yahoo.com
$12/yr
Funk Flyer, Monthly
Great Lakes Club
Robert L. Taylor
P. O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$18 for 3 issues
The American Yankee Association
Stewart Wilson
P.O. Box 1531
Cameron Park, CA 95682
530-676-4292
sec@aya.org
www.aya.org
$50/yr US & Intl
1st yr U.S. +$7.50; Intl +$10
American STAR, 6/yr
Canadian Harvard Aircraft Association
244411 Airport Road
Tillsonburg, ON N4G 3T9
Canada
www.harvards.com
Hatz Biplane Association
Chuck Brownlow
P.O. Box 85
Wild Rose, WI 54984
920-572-5954
brownlowod@aol.com
www.hatzbiplane.com
$20/yr
Publication: Qtrly
Hatz Club
Barry Taylor
P. O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$18 for 3 issues, Hatz Herald
Heath Parasol Club
William Schlapman
6431 Paulson Road
Winneconne, WI 54986
920-582-4454

Howard Club &

Howard Aircraft Foundation
ation
Michael Vaughan, President
ident
6991 N CR 1200 E.
Charleston, IL 61920
217-549-6103
mvaughan@consolidated.net
ed.net
www.howardaircraft.org
$30/yr
Publication: Qtrly
The Arctic & Interstate League
Steve Dawson, 262-642-3649
W626 Beech Dr.
East Troy, WI 53120
cadet@centurytel.net
Wayne Forshey, 740-472-1481
W.A.Forshey@sbcglobal.net
Newsletter Qtrly via email
Interstate Club
Robert L. Taylor
P.O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$18 for 3 issues, Interstate Intercom
Continental Luscombe Association
Mike Culver, President & Editor
17514 NE 33rd Pl.
Redmond, WI 98052
425-861-8307
mike@luscombe-cla.org, www.luscombe-cla.org
$25/yr US; $27.50 Canada; $30 Intl USD
The Courant, 6/yr
Luscombe Association
Steve Krog
1002 Heather Lane
Hartford, WI 53027
262-966-7627
sskrog@luscombeassoc.org
orrg
org
rg
www.luscombeassoc.org
$30 US/Canada; $35 Intl
l US
U
USD
SD
Luscombe Assoc. Newsletter:
etter:
r 6
6/yr
/yr
/
/y
yyr
The Luscombe Endowment Inc.
Doug Combs
2487 S. Gilbert Rd Unit # 106
Gilbert, AZ 85295
480-650-0883
mr.luscombe@luscombesilvaire.info
www.luscombe.org
Donations.
Online and Print
Meyers Aircraft Owners Association
Doug Eshelman
1563 Timber Ridge Dr.
Brentwood, TN 37027
615-400-3382
desh@comcast.net, www.meyersaircraftowners.org

Postage fund donation

Newsletter: 3-4/yr
Monocoupe Club
Frank & Carol Kerner
1218 Kingstowne Place
St. Charles, MO 63304
636-939-3322
monocoupe@sbcglobal.net
www.monocoupe.com
Dues: 25/yr
Western Association of Mooney Mites
Michael Harms
P.O. Box 391641
Mountain View, CA 94039
650-966-8292
MichaelHarms@comcast.net
www.mooneymite.com
Dues: None

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 11

N3N Owners & Restorers Association

H. Ronald Kempka
2380 Country Road #217
Cheyenne, WY 82009
307-638-2210
wyn3n@aol.com
$15/yr
Newsletter: 2/yr
American Navion Society
Gary Rankin
PMB 335, 16420 SE McGillivray # 103
Vancouver, WA 98683
May - Oct: 360-833-9921
Nov - April: 623-975-4052
Flynavion@yahoo.com, www.navionsociety.org
$60/yr US; $64 Canada; $74 Intl USD
The Navioneer, 6/yr
Navion Pilots Association
Jon Hartman
P.O. Box 6656
Ventura, CA 93006
805-754-0044
jon@navionpilots.org, www.navionpilots.org
$25/yr
Navion Skies
Raleigh Morrow
P.O. Box 2678
Lodi, CA 95241
209-482-7754
Fax: 209-367-9390
navion1@clearwire.net, www.navionskies.com
Email newsletter monthly
NavionX...for the Navion Aficionado
Chris Gardner
1690 Aeronca Lane
Fleming Field Airport
South St Paul, MN 55075
651-306-1456
www.navionx.org
Parrakeet Pilot Club
Barry Taylor
Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$18 for 3 issues
The Parrakeet Pilot
npol As
A
ssoc
so
occia
o
ociat
ia ion
iat
on
n
Brodhead Pietenpol
Association
Doc Mosher
P.O. Box 3501
4903-350
350
3
50
01
Oshkosh, WI 54903-3501
www.pie
pie
pi
ieten
ie
te
te
en
npo
pol
p
ols.o
ol
s..o
s
.orgg
BPAN@tds.net, www.pietenpols.org
$16/yr
rly
Publication: Qtrly
Cub Club
Steve Krog
1002 Heather Lane
Hartford, WI 53027
262-966-7627
sskrog@cubclub.org, www.cubclub.org
$35 US/Canada; $40 Intl USD
Cub Clues, 6/yr

Piper Aviation Museum Foundation

1 Piper Way
Lock Haven, PA 17745
info@pipermuseum.com
www.pipermuseum.com
$20/yr
The Cub Reporter, Qtrly
Piper Flyer Association
Jennifer Dellenbusch
jen@aviationgroupltd.com
www.piperflyer.org
Piper Owner Society
www.piperowner.org
tl
l
$49.95/yr U.S., add $20 Int
Intl
Publication: Monthly
Shortwingpipers.org
Steve Pierce
196 Hwy. 380 East
Graham, TX 76450
940-549-6415
www.shortwingpipers.org
Donations: Min $25/yr
Online Discussion Forum
Short Wing Piper Club
Eleanor Mills
P.O. Box 10822
Springfield, MO 65808
417-883-1457
membership@shortwing.org
ng.orgg
www.shortwing.org
Dues: $40/yr USA & Ca
Canada;
anad
na
ada
ad
a;; $
$50
$50/yr
50
0/y
/yr
/
yyr In
Intl
ntl
t
Publication: 6/yr
Short Wing Piper News
s
Supercub.org
PO Box 150
Waldron, MO 64092
816-200-2827
www.supercub.org
Donations: Min. $25/yr
Online Discussion Forum
Porterfield Airplane Club
Tom Porterfield
3350 Co Rd U; Hangar A
Abernathy, TX 79311
806-328-5347
porterfieldprops@sbcglobal.net
www.porterfieldplane.ning.com
Rearwin Club
Robert L. Taylor
P. O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$18 for 3 issues
International Ryan Club
Lynne Orloff
P.O. Box 990
Groveland, CA 95321
209-962-4631
ladyryanpilot@yahoo.com
www.ryanclub.org
$15/yr online community

Stinson Historical &

Restoration Society
Robert Taylor
P.O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
www.antiqueairfield.com
$24 for 3 issues
Publication: SHARS
International Stinson Club
Logan Boles
210 Blackfield Dr.
Tiburon, CA 94920
415-383-3262
loganboles@gmail.com
www.stinsonclub.org
$30/yr
Publication: Monthly
National Stinson Club
All Pre-War Models, 10,105, & V-77
Charlie Gay, President
25 Runway Road
Tunkhannock, PA 18657
skyhaven@ptd.net
570-836-3473 voice
$20 US & Canada; $25 Intl
Stinson Plane Talk, 4/yr
Sentinel Owner & Pilots Association
(Stinson L-5)
James H. Gray
1951 W. Coolbrook Ave.
Phoenix, AZ 85023
602-795-0413
akdhc2pilot@yahoo.com, www.sentinelclub.org
$22 Electronic
$30 US/Canada Print
$40 Intl Print
Newsletter: 2/yr
West Coast Swift Wing
Gerry or Carol Hampton
3195 Bonanza Dr
82
Cameron Park, CA 95682
ax
530-676-7755 voice & fax
av8rgnh@sbcglobal.net
$15/yr paper; $5/yr email
Publication: Monthly
Taylorcraft Foundation, Inc.
Forrest Barber, President
13820 Union Ave. NE
Alliance, OH 44601
330-823-1168
taylorcraft@neo.rr.com President
tcraft@taylorcraft.org, www.taylorcraft.org
$20/yr
Taylorcraft Owners Club
Steve Krog
1002 Heather Lane
Hartford, WI 53027
262-966-7627
sskrog@taylorcraftoc.com
www.taylorcraft.org
ntl US
U
SD
$35/yr US,Canada; $40 Intl
USD
Taylorcraft News: Qtrly

International Comanche Society

PO Box 1810
Traverse City, MI 49685-1810
888-300-0082
ics@villagepress.com, www.comancheflyer.com
$69/yr US, Canada, Mexico
More options listed on website
The Comanche Flyer, Monthly

1-26 Association (Schweizer)

A Division of the Soaring Society of America
Susan von Hellens, Sec./Treas.
sec.treas@126association.org
www.126association.org
$15/yr (website has addl options)
Publication: 6/yr

Travel Air Club

Robert L. Taylor
P. O. Box 127
Blakesburg, IA 52536
641-938-2773
antiqueairfield@sirisonline.com
$18 for 3 issues
Travel Air Talks

Piper Apache Club

John J. Lumley
6778 Skyline Drive
Delray Beach, FL 33446
561-499-1115
captainapache@aol.com
www.piperapacheclub.com
$36/yr

Stearman Restorers Association

7000 Merrill Ave., Box 90
Chino Airport
Chino, CA 91710
stearman800@yahoo.com
www.stearman.net
$35/yr US
The Flying Wire, Qtrly

Travel Air Restorers Association

Jerry Impellezzeri
4925 Wilma Way
San Jose, CA 95124
408-356-3407
clear_prop2003@yahoo.com, www.travelair.org
$15/yr US; $20 Intl
Travel Air Log, Qtrly

12 JANUARY 2011

American Waco Club,, Inc.

Inc.
ncc
Phil Coulson
ook Dr.
28415 Springbrook
65
Lawton, MI 49065
269-624-6490
s.com
rcoulson516@cs.com
acocl
oclub.
oc
ocl
ub
ub.
b com
c
www.americanwacoclub.com
l
$35 US; $45 Intl
Waco World News, 6/yr
National Waco Club
Andy Heins
50 La Belle St.
Dayton, OH 45403
937-313-5931
wacoaso@aol.com
www.nationalwacoclub.com
$25/yr US; $30 Intl
Waco Pilot, 6/yr
Western Waco Association
www.westernwaco.com
$10/yr Electronic; $20 Print
Publication: Qtrly

Other Aviation Organizations

Aircraft Engine Historical Society
4608 Charles Dr. NW
Huntsville, AL 35816
256-683-1458
information@enginehistory.org
www.enginehistory.org
American Aviation Historical Society
2333 Otis Street
Santa Ana, CA 92704
714-549-4818;Wed.10-4
www.aahs-online.org
$39.50/yr US
Publication: Qtrly
Beechcraft Heritage Museum
P.O. Box 550
570 Old Shelbyville Hwy
Tullahoma, TN 37388
931-455-1974
info@beechcraftheritagemuseum.org
www.beechcraftheritagemuseum.org
$50/yr; $60 Intl USD
Cross & Cockade
Bob Sheldon, Secretary
14329 S. Calhoun Ave.
Burnham, IL 60633
708-862-1014
$15/yr
Publication: 6/yr
Deaf Pilots Association
P.O. Box 364
Jeffersonville, IN 47131
contact@deafpilots.org, www.deafpilots.org
Reno Air Racing Association
14501 Mt. Anderson St.
Reno, NV 89506
775-972-6663
www.airrace.org

Glenn H. Curtiss Museum

8419 State Route 54
Hammondsport, NY 14840
www.glennhcurtissmuseum.org
International Fellowship of Flying Rotarians
Lynn Miller, Secretary-Treasurer
P.O. Box 479
Seabrook, TX 77586
281-474-4260
secretary@iffr.org, www.iffr.org
$40/yr US
International Flying Farmers
P.O. Box 309
Mansfield, IL 61854
217-489-9300
www.flyingfarmers.org
$70/yr
Publication: 6/yr
Intl Liaison Pilot
& Aircraft Association (ILPA)
Bill Stratton
16518 Ledgestone
San Antonio, TX 78232
210-490-4572 voice & fax
www.centercomp.com/ILPA/index.html
$29/yr; $35 Intl
Liaison Spoken Here
Intl Wheelchair Aviators
P.O. Box 279
Kemah, TX 77565
281-703-7450
IWAviators@aol.com, www.wheelchairaviators.org
$10/yr
Lake Amphibian Flyers Club
Marc Rodstein
15695 Boeing Court
Wellington, FL 33414
561-948-1262
contact@lakeflyers.com, www.lakeflyers.com
$62, $72 Intl
Lake Flyer newsletter
National Air Racing Group
Betty Sherman
1932 Mahan Avenue
Richland, WA 99354
509-946-5690
betty.sherman@verizon.net
$15 for first member in household
$3 for each additional
Professional Airracing, 4-13/yr
National Association of
Priest Pilots (NAPP)
Rev. Mel Hemann
127 Kaspend Pl
Cedar Falls, IA 50613
319-266-3889
n298mh@cfu.net, www.priestpilots.org
$25/yr
The Ninety-Nines, Inc.,
Women Pilots Organization
4300 Amelia Earhart Rd.
Oklahoma City, OK 73159
800-994-1929
hq@ninety-nines.org, www.ninety-nines.org
$65/yr
Publication: 4/yr

Florida Antique Biplane Association

Larry Robinson
10906 Denoeu Road
Boynton Beach, FL 33472
561-732-3250
BeyeView@aol.com
$48/yr
The Flying Wire, Monthly

North American Trainer Association

(T6, T28, NA64, NA50, P51, B25)
Kathy & Stoney Stonich
25801 NE Hinness Rd.
Brush Prairie, WA 98606
360-256-0066
NATrainer@aol.com, www.NorthAmericanTrainer.org
$50 US/Canada; $60 Intl USD
NATA Skylines, Qtrly

Florida Cub Flyers, Inc.

Larry Robinson
10906 Denoeu Road
Boynton Beach, FL 33472
561-732-3250
BeyeView@aol.com
$48/yr
Cub Tales, Monthly

OX5 Aviation Pioneers

R.R. Duke Iden, Treasurer
3015 Homeworth Rd.
Alliance, OH 44601
330-525-7920
ox5news@yahoo.com
Dues: $20/yr
OX5 News, Monthly

Seaplane Pilots Association

3859 Laird Blvd.
Lakeland, FL 33811
863-701-7979
spa@seaplanes.org, www.seaplanes.org
$45/yr US; $55/yr Intl
Water Flying, 6/yr
Sentimental Journey to Cub Haven
Kim Garlick/Carmen Banfill
P.O. Box J-3
Lock Haven, PA 17745-0496
570-893-4200
j3cub@kcnet.org
www.sentimentaljourneyfly-in.com
$12/yr Individual, $17 Family
Publication: 2/yr
Silver Wings Fraternity
Jerry Riesz
3288 Cherryview Ct.
North Bend, OH 45052
513-941-8108
www.silverwings.org
$25/yr
Slipstream, 6/yr
Society of Air Racing Historians
Herman Schaub
168 Marion Lane
Berea, OH 44017
440-234-2301
www.airrace.com
$20/yr US; $23 Intl
Golden Pylons, 6/yr
Swift Museum Foundation
Charlie Nelson
P. O. Box 644
Athens, TN 37371-0644
Headquarters: 423-745-9547
Charlie: swiftlychs@aol.com
Secretary: swiftlypam@aol.com
www.swiftmuseumfoundation.org
www.SaginawWings.com
$35/yr
Publication: Monthly
United Flying Octogenarians
Bart Bratko, secy/treas.
19 Bay State Rd
Natick, MA 10760
508-651-8287
bart_bratko@hotmail.com
www.unitedflyingoctogenarians.org
$20yr
UFO newsletter, 4/yr
Vintage Sailplane Association
31757 Honey Locust Road
Jonesburg, MO 63351-3195
www.vintagesailplane.org
$30/yr; $40 Intl
Bungee Cord, Qtrly
Waco Historical Society
Waco Aircraft Museum
Don Willis, Exec. Dir.
1865 South County Rd. 25A
Troy, OH 45373
937-335-9226; noon-5 Sat-Sun
admin@wacoairmuseum.org
www.wacoairmuseum.org
$30/yr
WACO Word, 4/yr
Women in Aviation, International
3647 State Route 503 South
West Alexandria, OH 45381
937-839-4647
www.wai.org
$39/yr; $29 students
Aviation for Women, 6/yr
WWI Aeroplanes, Inc.
PO Box 730
Red Hook, NY 12571-0730
845-835-8121
ww1aero@gmail.com, www.ww1aeroinc.org
Skyways and WWI Aero

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 13

The Antiques in Winter

If airplanes could talk . . .
BY

ROGER THIEL

Part II
This is the second installment
of a story, wherein a large communal lightplane hangar in the present-day American Midwest during
winter, six antique airplanes come
to life and tell their tales of Depression-era survival to the newer
airplanes, who are worried about
recent national economic issues.

The Taylorcraft L-2s Story

A gruff voice spoke up, as if an
older officer in well-deserved retirement at a veterans center:
Complain, complain, complain! In a democracy, in what is a
peacetime home front, undergoing
what for most of the world would
be a routine economic adjustment
which they have weathered many
times before, I am dismayed with

14 JANUARY 2011

what I hear.
Id rather not undergo this occasional inactivity, but its not comparable to how I lived the first years
of my lifeas an observer/liaison
airplane in World War II.
Compare todays stateside situation to being shot athard, fast,
early, and often! Compare it to not
having my pilot know whether he
and I would return from each of
our assigned observation missions
during the war.
I was among the very lightest
and smallest of the warplanes, and
it was up to my pilotand me
to fly into combat in my fabriccovered, unarmed frame, with extra
reserves of strength and spirit.
To kill my pilot and, not incidentally, me was worth a great deal

to the enemy. In a scoring system,

they gave two points for downing
an escorted twin engine bomber,
one point for a fighter, but two
points for downing an Allied liaison aircraft. The rifles of ground
troops were all but useless against
a fighter or bomber, but not against
me, and I was often the only thing
for them to aim at. A German infantryman who brought down an
Allied L-bird like me was rewarded
with a 15-day leave! My eyes in the
sky were considered that valuable.
And this happened when I was
brand new. It was the existence for
which I was made!
Several bullets hit me, and all
but one of the strikes were quickly
identified and repaired. The field
mechanic who fixed me in 1944 in

Italy, working on his third day without sleep, saw that one hit to my
tubing was only a crease and that it
was okay. That crease has since been
regarded by 22 civilian mechanics as
a minor factory fluke. It is perfectly
safe, but only I know the truth of
that scary day when my frame deflected the bullet that would have
otherwise killed my pilot.
For decades no one knew what I
had been through. It would be 30some years after the war that enthusiasts and restorers depicted the
L-bird experience and accorded us a
historic dignity.
And so in those years right after
the war, I never complained about
hard student landings and of various
other neglects and pilot mistakes.
But look at me now! In only
the past few years, because of my
weight, I have become eligible
for something called light sport,
which enables some pilots to fly
me all over again with a new energy. And this is yet another breath
of goodness to my life, a life that
could have ended so easily so many,
many times.
Squeak if you must, but only
when you really, really need grease.
These times, by the standards of most
of the world, are still quite grand.

A salute to you all. And now,

Im going to sleep.

The Piper J-3 Cubs Story

My line of aircraft came from
poverty, from the low ebb of the
early 1930s and from a hard-hit arearural central Pennsylvania.
Nothing from this situation
suggested success for our line, and
yet this is where we found it, when
a reluctant oil man essentially inherited my aircraft factory as a bad
debt. In an unlikely startup, he simply became determined that he was
going to make the best of it all.
The aerodynamics of the Piper
line were made as if in reaction to
poverty, with the most elemental
design possible: a slow, flat-bottom
wing that wrought every shred of
lift it could from its modest powerplant. Lift, lift, liftit turned anything it could find into an asset,
clinging tenaciously to the winds
themselves as if to say, Give me a
dime of forward, and Ill give you
back a dollar of up.
Popular as I became, in the beginning, times were tight. There were
days at the factory when a customer
came to pick up one of my ancestors and it would have no engine installed. It was at the towns railroad
depot waiting for a check. Some Piper

Give me a dime of forward, and Ill

give you back a dollar of up.
personnel would take the buyer to an
orchestrated lunch while others took
the payment check, presented it at
the railroad, claimed my engine, and
took it to the factory and installed
and flight-tested itall without the
buyer even knowing!

My Cub yellow paint was not

originally the beautiful pigment
you see now, but was colored with
a more drab, sulfur powder the factory could get for almost nothing
from the Pennsylvania hills.
Elements of my design have
taken on a cute and emblematic
identitymy clamshell doors
that I am soloed from the rear
seat, and the cork-and-wire fuel
gauge from my simplistic gravityfeed fuel tank. But all of this image is incidental; these features
were each built into me for a gritty,
must-do purpose.
My small engine was, in fact,
a bold new design, made at a time
when aircraft engines were large,
round, and expensive. It would
probably not have been a success
except for the harsh times. My engine enhanced frontal view, making my more modest cabin design
workable. All of these designs happened together, and they collected
a host of brilliant personnelall of
whom somehow made their biggest
steps in the hardest of times.
There are so many American manufacturers who started
in the early 1930s and who have
endured. From that pit, from that
low ebb, theyincluding my makersfound a grain of survival and
created what would become a longlasting success.
By 1940, the year in which I was
made, Pipers numbers had swelled
so large that it could advertise to
outsell all other light aircraft combined. No other American factory
has been able to make that claim
before or since.
And with the decades, my name
went on to become an emblematic
name for what a lightplane is.
I am evidence of the saying of
architect Frank Lloyd Wright that
humanity built most nobly in time
of scarcity, when so much more was
needed to build anything at all.
And so, my makers, by the gritty
nature of what was thrust on them
and by ferocity of effort, proved
that the worst of times can be made
into the best.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 15

My Friend

Frank Rezich
Part IV

The war years

BY

Frank with his trademark unlit cigar in his mouth,

standing next to a Consolidated C-109.

nducted in the Army Air

Forces (AAF) and assigned
to Air Transport Command
Ferry Command, the AAF
recognized Franks experience, even as a young man of 20
years. For large aircraft such as
bombers and transports, radial engines ruled, and Frank had plenty
of experience maintaining and
operating them. A position as a
copilot/mechanic/fl ight engineer
was the right place for his talents.
And that is where he went; he
eventually became one of the famous AAF Flying Sergeants.
Frank told us, Ford was producing a B-24 every eight hours in those
days. If it was to become a Hump
airplane, it went to Memphis. If it
was a bomber, it went to another location to be reassigned. We picked
up all of ours at Memphis.
Frank talked about going to
Memphis, Tennessee, to pick up
new B-24s that had been converted to tanker ships by installation of special fuel tanks for

16 JANUARY 2011

ROBERT G. LOCK

PHOTOS COURTESY OF REZICH FAMILY COLLECTION

long-range flights and to carry

fuel from India into China. These
aircraft were designated C-109s
they were essentially Consolidated
B-24 ships constructed under contract by Ford, but stripped of all

I got
sent through
basic school and
wound up in the
Air Transport
Command
Ferry Division.
armament, bomb racks, etc. Some
of these ships had their plastic
nose and tail gun turrets faired
in with sheet metal to make a
smooth rounded nose and tail. In
Memphis these aircraft were fit-

ted with welded aluminum fuel

tanks in the nose and in the bomb
bay areas. These tanks could carry
an additional 2,900 U.S. gallons
of fuel, and the aircrafts fuel system could be plumbed into the
tanks to provide extra-long range
to ferry them from Miami, Florida, to India. These aircraft were
developed specifically to supply
the fuel needs of the B-29s operating out of China to bomb Japan. Frank indicated that the
Laird Company manufactured the
aluminum fuel tanks, while the
Glenn L. Martin Company fitted
collapsible Mareng fuel cells in
the last of the modified aircraft.
Some of the C-109s were ferried directly from Memphis to
the Azores, then on to North Africa, and eventually Burma/India.
Other ships were ferried to Pan
Am Field in Miami or Dinner Key
in south Florida, then across the
Atlantic to the Azores and North
Africa, landing at Libya or Tripoli. Frank indicated he made a

Pan Am base in Miami, Florida.

couple of flights across the Atlantic Ocean. In a telling statement

Frank said, I made a couple of
mistakes. I should have stayed
with Pan Am.
In the first photo in this article you can see Pan Am Field in
Miami, Florida, as it appeared in
1945. The terminal and hangar
complex and parking ramp are to
the left of the photograph. Dinner
Key was located nearby and was
designed for amphibian and seaplane operation only. All Pan Am
seaplane operations began and
ended at this base. It was from
this Pan Am Field that Frank ferried British aircraft to North Africa prior to his induction into the
military in 1943.
Frank recalled his induction and
service in the military. I got sent
through basic school and wound
up in the Air Transport Command
Ferry Division. I took two C-46s
and a C-47 to India. Whether you
flew right seat or not depended
on whom you had for a CO [commanding officer]. They used to

take the crew chief and make him

the copilot. On the B-24s you
would have a three- or four-man
crew. A lot of the time we would
get some of those green copilots,
and the old man would say, Frank
you go. I can remember delivering
four or fi ve C-46s and some Vega
Venturas, but I dont remember
ever going to the Boeing factory.
I remember going to the Douglas
factory and to the Curtiss factory
in Buffalo and also to St. Louis. I
remember going to the Douglas
facility at Daggett, on the Mojave
Desert, to pick up some A-20s in
1945 to ferry over to Europe.
The C-109s were used to ferry
fuel to B-29 bombers stationed
in China, which were to be used
to bomb Japan. There were many
frightful moments flying a fully
loaded C-109 across the Himalayan Mountains, the famous
Hump. Frank flew as a flight engineer on a fuel-laden C-109. His
rank was sergeant.
Frank was eventually based in
the Assam Valley region in India.

U.S. bases were in Shamshan Agra

and Teagon, India. Missions carrying fuel to China were across the
Himalayan Mountains in the area
that featured the highest mountain in the world, Mount Everest;
after cresting the mountains, the
flight path took them into Kunming, China. Occasional fuel
stops had to be made in Burma on
the return trip.
There are several stories that
emanated from his time in the
service, and a couple will be documented here.
I have some pictures somewhere where we lost the entire
nose case and propeller of the outboard engine while in flight. I recall the same situation when I was
a flight engineer on C-54s near
the end of the war.
Speaking about maintenance on
the C-109s, Frank recalled, Engine
overhauls were done by a company
in Calcutta called Indian Aviation.
We were lucky to get 500 or 600
hours out of the engines. We used
to have to take off down the As-

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 17

Frank served as a crewmember on the C-109, the aerial gas truck used to supply bases in the China/
Burma/India (CBI) theater of operations. The airplane had to gain an altitude of at least 19,000 feet
to clear the mountainous terrain between India and China.

sam Valley. One day we took off

and about 100 feet the first engine
craps outblows up.

It blows a piston and all the st

comes out. We get it feathered, but
not too far down the road,
the
th second engine on the
same
wing fails. Both guys
sa
[pilots]
were standing on op[p
posite
rudder with both feet.
p
We
W went maybe 3040 miles
down
the valley and finally
d
got
it turned around and
g
landed
it. We dumped all the
l
fuel we could to make the
airplane lighter, but even so
the airplane was still very
heavy. I think I still have
some of the pieces at home
somewhere in a cigar box.
Everybody had failures
that was our biggest risk, an
engine failure on takeoff.
There were humorous moments that Frank
recalled. One day I was
climbing on board the
C-109, and there was a
young copilot who demanded I discard my cigar. I told him it wasnt
lit, but he insisted I throw
Perhaps taken when the end of the war was it away before the flight.
in sight, a young Frank Rezich, who so honor- Frank educated him imably served his country and became a mem- mediately. Follow me,
ber of the greatest generation. No cigar,
sonny, and let me show
but is that the neck of a bottle that obscures you something. Frank
his necktie? He sure looks happy!
took the young man be-

18 JANUARY 2011

h i n d t h e f l i g h t e n g i n e e r s a f t
bulkhead and pointed to a device
attached to the structure. See
that? Its an auxiliary hydraulic
pump. Now you stand there and
watch it carefully while I throw
the electrical switch. When the
electrically driven motor started
there were sparks emitting from
the unit, which was located less
than a foot from a fuel tank loaded
with 115/145 fuel. Frank came
back and said, See that, sonny?
My unlit cigar wont ignite that
fuel tank, but that thing sure as
hell will. Nothing more was said!
Near the end of the war, as the
Allies continued to gain ground
moving toward Japan, the B-29s
based in China were moved to
Guam and Saipan in the Mariana Islands. Long-range bombing
would dispatch from these new
bases, and the China bases were
eventually abandoned. When flying the Hump to China was no
longer required, Frank went back
to ferrying aircraft wherever they
were needed.
Frank was released from military service after the war ended
in 1945. Frank remembered what
happened in December 1946: I
came home. No job. Just a little
bit of discharge pay in my pocket.

Franks first airplane he purchased in 1942: a CPTP Waco UPF-7.

Mike came home first. What the
heck, I find Mike is running a beer
business for the southwest side of
Chicago. Mike said come to work
for me, driving a beer truck delivering Blatz beer. I tried it for a
couple weeks, but things didnt
work out.

So Frank went back to doing

what he did before the war. The
first airplane that Frank purchased
after his discharge was a Civilian
Pilot Training Program (CPTP)
Waco UPF-7 that had been ground
looped. It was disassembled and
hauled on a trailer to the fam-

ily house for rebuild. The family

shop was in the house basement
and storage was in the converted
two-car garage. Frank completed
repairs to the fuselage by replacing the right landing gear and the
damaged tubing structure around
the gear attach area. He found a

Franks nicely restored Waco UPF-7, NC32087.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 19

Mike Rezich bought this BT-13 for a commuter airplane to run back and forth from Stinson Aircraft outside of
Detroit and the south side of Chicago.
set of good lower wings, re-covered
and assembled the airplane, test
flying it and storing it at Willie
Howells Airfield south of the Chicago Municipal because of the municipal airports expanded size and
higher traffic density.
Franks UPF-7 was only the second airplane owned by other than
brother Mike. Up until this time,
Mike owned all the family airplanes. Nick bought a Culver Cadet new from the factory in 1942,
before Frank bought his Waco.
The Culver was the only new airplane the family purchased. This
same Culver has been returned to
the family, as Nicks son Jim now
owns it. (Well have more on it in
Part 7.)
Thanks to the 50-foot gate
near the Rezich home on LaPorte Street, Nick bought a surplus Vultee BT-13 ship to use as
a commuter when he briefly
worked for Stinson Aircraft in Detroit after the war. The airplane
was taxied to the family shop,
where it was converted to civilian status and received a CAA license complete with registration
number NC9535H. Nicks son Jim

20 JANUARY 2011

remembered, They tried a special clear coat on the polished surfaces, but it didnt work, so the
airplane ended up getting painted
a sand/tan topcoat color. Frank
painted a red stripe on the fuselage side and around the nose of
the engine cowling. He would also
have to paint the civilian registration number on the rudder. The
airplane was later modified as a
skywriter, and Nick had a contract
to write Muntz TV over Chicago
one summer. He got some help
from one of his friends, but had
problems when he wrote the Z
in Muntz backward! Weve included a shot from Franks collection of the BT-13 behind the
Rezich home. Note the wood
wings standing against the building, on the right side of photo.
Jim remembered, The wooden
wings in the background are most
likely from Gordon Israels Redhead racer. One day Mike decided
to clean up and threw them in the
burn pile.
Ready to proceed with his life,
it was time to move away from
home. Frank recalled, I looked
around the airport, but there

w a s n t m u c h h a p p e n i n g , s o I
checked with United Air Lines.
Well, United said come work for
us as a junior fl ight engineer. But
that is a bus drivers job, so you
can get laid off every six months.
I thought, I can do better than
that. So I stayed home and started
calling around and found a hangar
just west of Chicago, a little ways
on an airport that has a quarry on
itStinson Airport. Okay, I can go
over there and work as an A&E.
There were guys buying up these
surplus airplanes. Aha, we want
to convert them for civilian use.
So I opened the hangarRezich
Aircraftand the first and biggest
jobs I had were Howard airplanes.
So I worked that shop because it
was right up my alley. Then Nick
talked me into building a racer. I
started that in 1946.
Next month, in Part 5, Frank designs the Rezich brothers racer for
the Cleveland Air Races and is requested to join the Ford Motor
Company as a technical representative on the Pratt & Whitney R-4360
radial engine, which was being built
by Ford under a licensing agreement
with Pratt & Whitney.

Light Plane Heritage

published in EAA Experimenter December 1990

THE LONGREN BIPLANE

BY JACK

Albin K. Longren was a selftaught pilot from Topeka, Kansas,

who started building and flying his
own airplanes in 1910. In 1919 he
formed the Longren Aircraft Cor-

MCRAE

poration of Topeka and in 1920 designed and built the New Longren,
a side-by-side two-seat biplane that
featured a well-streamlined, semimonocoque fuselage of molded fi-

ber. The wing panels, which were

braced by a Warren truss system of
struts, could be folded back against
the fuselage, giving an overall width
of 9 feet. The engine was originally
a three-cylinder, 60-hp Lawrance,
but later models used the six-cylinder Anzani engine.
The molded fiber fuselage was said
to have a strength-to-weight ratio
double that of plywood, and to be
highly resistant to splintering. The
combustion point of 650F made it
relatively fireproof. Ash longerons
and frames were used for reinforcement. The cockpit was entered
through a door that was designed to
retain the strength of the fuselage.
The wings used a modified U.S.A.
No. 2 airfoil. The spars were built
up I sections of spruce. The wing
ribs had a plywood web and ash cap

Editors Note: The Light Plane Heritage series in EAAs Experimenter magazine often touched on aircraft and concepts
related to vintage aircraft and their history. Since many of our members have not had the opportunity to read this series, we plan on publishing those LPH articles that would be of interest to VAA members. Enjoy!HGF

22 JANUARY 2011

strips. Ailerons were used on the upper wing only and were interchangeable, with control by torque tube.
Swivel fittings allowed the wings to
be folded without affecting the controls. When folded, the wings were
braced to the fuselage to allow towing to the airport by car.
The tail surfaces were of a thick
section for rigidity, with rudder and
elevators operated by torque tubes.
The elevator controls were entirely
enclosed in the fuselage, and the
rudder had only a short length of
control cable exposed.
The landing gear was of the cross
axle type supported by streamlined
V-struts on each side and used rubber cord for shock absorbers.
The New Longren was intended
to be a business and pleasure airplane of moderate price ($2,465) for
the individual owner. The low cost
of maintenance and small storage
space required were big advantages.
The U.S. Navy was experimenting with small airplanes in the early
1920s and purchased three of the
New Longrens to test the servicing
performance of molded fiber construction; a potential answer to faster
and cheaper construction. After several years of testing, the Navy decided
to buy additional airplanes from Longren, but by that time the company
was no longer in existence. It had
been unable to compete with the low
prices of the World War I surplus airplanes that were then available.
The New Longren reportedly flew
and handled well, and at a flying
meet in Kansas City in November
1921, it won the looping contest
with 38 loops. The takeoff distance
was 125 feet, and the landing run
was 75 feet. It was reported that a
total of six were built.
Longren remained in the airplane
business, however, and in the early
1930s built a very attractive twoplace, all-metal biplane in Kansas
City, using the Martin 120-hp engine.
He subsequently worked for the Spartan Aircraft Company in Tulsa and
then moved to California, where he
manufactured hydraulically operated
metal-forming machinery.

Specifications of New Longren Biplane

Weight Empty
Useful Load
Gross Weight
Wing Area
Wing Loading
Power Loading
Maximum Speed
Range

550 pounds
500 pounds
1,050 pounds
189 square feet
5.55 pounds/square foot
17.5 pounds/square foot
96 mph
250 miles

Reference:
Aviation magazine, September 19, 1921
Aerial Age Weekly, September 26, 1921
Flight magazine, June 8, 1922
Aircraft Yearbook, 1923
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 23

2010 VAA Hall of Fame Inductee

Morton W. Lester
EAA 55178, VAA 14
BY JACK

COX AND MORTON LESTER

orn into an aviation familyhis father was a pilot,

aircraft owner, and owner
of Martinsvilles first airportMorton
literally
grew up in and around airplanes and
was flying long before reaching the
legal age. (He soloed at age 10.) After
college and military service with the
Army Signal Corps (Korea), he embarked on what would become a successful business career, which allowed
him to become the owner of a long
succession of aircraft, ranging from
modern types such as Bonanzas, Comanches, and Meyers 200s to vintage
Wacos, Travel Airs, Howards, Monocoupes, and many, many more.
Of special significance were a number of prototypes and racing aircraft
that Morton searched out, restored,
and preserved for posterity by donating them to aviation museums. Included were the following:
The Crosby CR-4 that competed in
the Greve and Thompson Trophy air
races in the late 1930s. Morton discovered the racer on a farm in North
Carolina just days before it was to be
hauled away to a dump. He had it re-

24 JANUARY 2011

stored and donated it to the EAA AirVenture Museum at Oshkosh.

The Keith Rider Jackrabbit that
competed in Greve Trophy races in
the late 1930s. It ended up as a sign
on a California restaurantuntil

Morton purchased it, had it restored,

and donated it to the EAA AirVenture
Museum in Oshkosh.
The prototype Ryan SCW was languishing somewhere in Mexico until
Morton was able to locate it, bring it

Lester Airport was a Piper dealer, and this pre-WWII photo shows their first
J-5 Cruiser. Morton and his father are standing by the ship with Mortons
younger brother perched on the engine.

Will Rogers and Morton share a similar philosophy

when Rogers said, I never met a man I didnt like.
Well, Morton never met a plane he didnt like. Whistlin Dixie was his Twin Beech. It began life as an Navy
SNB. When people would ask what that stood for,
Morton simply replied, Secret Navy Bomber. Today
this ship is in Tullahoma, Tennessee, after Morton
donated it to the Beechcraft Heritage Museum.

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The Monocoupe had such a rich heritage that it is in a
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each flight was a thrilling and exhilarating experience.

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VINTAGE AIRPLANE 25

The Antique/Classic judges pause for a photo in 1972. Morton is the third one from the left, standing in the back.
back to the United States, restore it to
flying condition, and donate it to the
EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh.
Morton purchased a derelict aircraft that at the time was believed
to be the prototype Johnson Rocket,
saving it from being junked. He subsequently sold it to Leonard McGinty,
who had it restored. After Leonards
death, the airplane was purchased by
the Swift Museum Foundation. Subsequent research has revealed that
the airplane was initially the Swift
prototype and, later, after some modifications, was re-designated as the
Johnson Rocket prototype. It will be
displayed in the Swift Museum.
Several other vintage aircraft,

among them a Travel Air 6000 and

a Beech 18 military version, have
been placed on loan by Morton to
other aviation museums.
In addition to owning and restoring vintage aircraft, Morton has been
active for decades in the activities of
various aviation organizations. He
was instrumental in the creation of
the Virginia Aviation Museum in
Richmond. He served 10 years on
the Virginia Aviation Board, having
been appointed by three Virginia
governors. Morton served 35 years
as a board member of the Blue Ridge
Airport Authority, with 23 years as
chairman. He also served as a director of the Sun n Fun Fly-In Lake-

This is my 1929 Travel Air Model 6000. It was truly a joy to fly. As a footnote, it flew much better fully loaded than it did when flying solo.
26 JANUARY 2011

land, Florida, for many years.

Morton was an early member of
EAA/VAA Chapter 3 and served as
its president several times over the
years. He served as a member of the
board of directors of what is now the
Vintage Aircraft Association, being
instrumental in the organization at
its start. He was the divisions vice
president and authored many articles for Vintage Airplane. Morton also
served on the EAA Aviation Foundation board for 30 years, including
co-chairmanship of the building
committee during the move from
Hales Corners to Oshkosh and 20
years serving on the executive committee. His lifelong collection of
aviation-related audiovisual materials formed a significant part of the
nucleus of the collection of EAAs
audiovisual department when it was
established in Oshkosh.
Note: Morton has always been a
generous soul with both his time and
his resources, and to honor his time
contributing to Vintage Airplane, we
thought it only proper to present
a selection of the photos lent to us
with the captions in his own words.
More of his photos are posted in a
slideshow that you can access from
our website at www.VintageAircraft.
org/programs/hof.html.

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Vintage
Mechanic

THE

BY ROBERT G. LOCK

Test flights
his months discussion is on a subject that can
cause stress, both emotional and physical. It is
the test flight.
In previous publications we have discussed various
subjects dealing with aircraft restoration, but now is
a good time to talk about the dreaded test flight.
Perhaps you have spent several years restoring your
airplane to pristine condition and
finally its time to see how well it
flies. Here are some of my thoughts
on the test flight, and hopefully,
ideas that will make that first flight
safe, successful, and enjoyable.
When I was instructing A&P
mechanics at Reedley College in
central California, my airframe
classes focused on restoring an
a i rc r a f t t o f l y a b l e c o n d i t i o n .
These aircraft were quite simple, mostly Aeronca 7AC and
11AC/11CC, Cessna 140, and
Taylorcraft-type airplanes.
My classes numbered 20 to 50 students who all
took part in the live airplane work. I would have
half of the class working in the lab, so I supervised
10-25 students, all involved with return-to-service
aircraft. Needless to say I spent many hours after students left our facility closely inspecting their work. In
the end, I was the fortunate soul to fire up and test fly
the airplane.
My duty as test pilot was also put to use in my
own shop, as I completed restoration of antique aircraft. Having been in the seat for the first flight many
times, I developed some guidelines that have worked
well for me.
First, test flights should be conducted in the early
morning hours when the air is calm and cool. Select a
day when there are no crosswinds to deal with so that
demon wont enter into the picture.
The mental state of the test pilot is as important as
the ability to fly an airplane. You must be ready and

up to the task at hand, with no distractions. I always

flew a similar type of aircraft around the local area to
scout out possible off-airport landing sites, which I
hoped would never be needed. I never jumped into the
airplane and took to the sky unprepared!
My test flights were conducted when I was ready,
not when the airplane was ready. There were times
when the test flight took place one
to four days after the airplane was
ready for flight.
These days leading up to the test
flight were used to focus on the task
at hand. I mentally conducted the
flight hundreds of times, and usually didnt get my normal sleep on
the days leading up to the flight.
I calculated the center of gravity
(CG) location for the test flight using my actual body weight instead
of the 170 pounds suggested by the
FAA. I knew exactly how much fuel
was in the tank; I never test flew with full fuel but
would have enough fuel for at least two hours of flight.
Knowing exactly where the CG was located gave an
indication of where to set the trim, which I usually set
in the center of travel (not necessarily neutral).
When I had a good mental picture of the flight, I
would transfer the mental picture to reality by flying
the traffic pattern and local area to spot and memorize my off-airport landing sites, if needed. I knew
when I was ready and I knew when the airplane was
ready. Most of my first flights lasted 20-30 minutes. A
landing was made and the aircraft and engine closely
inspected for anything unusual. If everything was
normal, I would get back into the air for another 45
minutes to an hour.
Noted test pilot Chuck Yeager has always said,
There aint nothin dull about a test fl ight . . . you
never know the outcome until youre back safely on
the ground. To which I say, Amen. I still remember
nearly all of my test flightsand they were all suc-

. . . make
that first
flight safe,
successful,
and
enjoyable.

28 JANUARY 2011

cessfulI got back with no injury.

There is less stress if you can minimize how many
sets of eyes are watching the event. Ground crew
is essential, but I never liked inviting throngs of
people to witness my test flight. There were a couple
of times, however, when it seemed that the whole
darned town was there to watch. Such was the case
when I test flew a Stearman biplane. But it turned
out well, despite the crowd.
There are different approaches to engine break-in;
I suppose Ive done most of them. I recall test flying a
Fairchild PT-26 with a newly overhauled Ranger 200hp engine and an Aeromatic propeller installed. Since
the Ranger tended to overheat on the ground with
prolonged run-up, I preheated the oil to about 175 degrees Fahrenheit, poured it into the oil tank, did only
enough ground run to assure the engine was ready,
then took off and flew. All the other test flights were
conducted by running the engine on the ground until
there was a rise in oil temperature. This would require
several short runs to avoid glazing the cylinder walls.
Before takeoff, always check that control surface deflection is in the proper direction, especially ailerons,
elevators, and longitudinal trim.
I always use full power on takeoff and into the initial climb. Horizontally opposed engines dont mind
being operated at full power for prolonged periods.
Radial and inline engines, however, dont like the full
power for long periods. I would pull off some power,
but not too much.
Recent test flights behind the Wright R-760 radial
engine were conducted by running the engine at full
power for no more than three minutes, then backing
off the power to 1800 rpm and leaving it there until it
was time to descend and land. The Wright is placarded
to operate from 1650-1800 rpm, so I ran it at 1800 rpm
during break-in.
Closely monitor all engine instruments for abnormalities, especially the oil pressure gauge. The oil pressure gauge is the most important instrument in the
cockpit. If all other instruments fail, you can look outside the cockpit, fly the airplane, and land it safely.
I normally climb to an altitude of 2,500 feet or
above, and I stay over the airport in case of an emergency. If the field is tower controlled, tell the tower
folks that you are conducting a test fl ight and wish
to stay above the airport for the next 20 minutes.
Usually a shallow left turn is good because its in the
direction of torque.
Normally a newly overhauled engine will run hot
for the first few hours, so cylinder head and oil temperature indicators may read above normal. Next a
test of flight controls, any unusual flight conditions
should be noted immediately. If the airplane is assembled and rigged properly there should be no great
surprises. If things arent going well, however, get the
airplane back on the ground, but do it safely.

I like to do a small amount of slow flight, conducting a sample landing pattern starting at 2,500 feet
above the ground. But while conducting any maneuvers it is important to keep the engine cool. The airplane should be trimmed for all flight attitudes and
airspeeds. If the center of gravity is properly placed,
this will happen. If the airplane is either nose- or tailheavy you will run out of trim travel before control
stick pressure neutralizes. After 20-30 minutes I land to
check the airplane and engine over before continuing.
Takeoffs on a test flight can be fun, but the first landing is always a memorable event. Here are a couple of
ideas to ponder.
First, a good landing is always accompanied with a
good approach. A lousy approach will usually result
in a lousy landing. Biplanes have very poor visibility over the nose. They also come down fast if you
pull the power off. With this in mind, make your
approach to landing by holding some power all the
way to the fl are. At airfi elds where I can dictate the
pattern (uncontrolled), I shoot the downwind at 800
feet AGL, turn base at 600 feet AGL, and turn final at
400 feet AGL.
Keep pulling the power off; its a game to play on
landing and keeps you from getting too bored. The
game is to continue reducing power but not adding
power to make the runway. To this day my approaches
are a little high to allow me to see the runway over the
engine. I will never shoot a low final and add substantial power to make the runway. You cannot see anything in front of you, so dont do it!
Another idea for the final approach is to use a little
slip so you can see the runway. This trick worked
well when I was flying a Pitts S2C with Sean Tucker
and Ralph Riddel at Salinas. You could set up a cross
control slip and when you crossed, the numbers just
set the airplane down the runwayit was already
flared to the three-point attitude. Hold it there until all
three wheels touched down. Squeak and youre down.
Oh, it was fun!
The second flight can be a more in-depth investiga-

Short final for 15.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 29

tion of stability and control. Have a clipboard handy

so you can record what the airplane does as you conduct the tests.
First, the airplane should fly straight and level when
trimmed. Fixed-wing aircraft have a tendency to roll
to the left as a result of propeller rotation (P-factor) and
torque. On aircraft powered by
most American-built engines,
the prop turns clockwise when
viewed from the cockpit, so the
airplane wants to turn counterclockwise. This can be corrected
by washing out the right wing
or washing in the left wing, or
adjusting both settings. These
adjustments are made until the
wings remain level with the horizon in level flight.
Wash-out is removing a small
amount of the angle of incidence at wing tip, and wash-in
is increasing incidence at the tip.
This adjustment is done in small increments until the
airplane flies wings-level at cruise power in level flight.
The chances are good that the left wing will be washed
in, so the slight increase in angle of incidence at the tip
will cause a slight increase in drag on the left wing. This
causes the nose to yaw to the left. This condition can be
adjusted by adding a small ground-adjustable tab to the
rudder and bending it to the left, which will cause the
rudder to move to the right. Bend the tab until the yaw
is removed. After these adjustments are completed, check
the airplane in a power off stall; the wings should remain
level through the stall.
To stability test the airplane, begin at a safe altitude,
at least 3,000 feet AGL. Set the power to cruise rpm and
trim the airplane for level hands off flight. Now apply
a small amount of back pressure on the stick to cause the
nose to rise above the horizon. Observe if the nose oscillates below the horizon, and tends to return to level flight

equilibrium. If this happens and in a short time period,

the airplane demonstrates good static and dynamic stability. If the nose tends to stay in the displaced attitude, the
airplane demonstrates neutral stability. And if the nose
tends to increase its oscillations above and below the horizon the airplane demonstrates
negative stability. Most old airplanes should demonstrate positive or neutral stability.
Flight control deflection
should be capable of good
control of the airplane at all
airspeeds. Dont try any spectacular maneuvers at this time;
you just want to check stability
and control response.
Reduce power to check for
slow flight-handling of the airplane as you prepare for landing. You can do this on the
descent portion of your flight. I
usually make an imaginary traffic pattern: crosswind, 90-degree
downwind slightly reducing speed, 90-degree turn to
base reducing speed, 90-degree turn to final, further
reducing speed. You can do this in your descent to get
a feel of how the airplane will control in the traffic
pattern, particularly if there are no recommended airspeed numbers written anywhere.
Enter the pattern for landing and make a good cockpit check. One important check during this phase of
the flight is the pilot. Make up your mind what type of
landing you will make: three-point or wheel.
For me, the first is usually a wheel landing; its just
easier to fly the airplane onto the runway, and I will
always have good rudder control due to the higher
airspeed. This is especially true if its the first time Ive
flown this particular type of airplane. In all the airplanes Ive flown I prefer the three-point landing once
I get used to the ship. If the tail wheel is the steerable
or locking type, three-point landings work well for me.

To stability
test the
airplane, begin
at a safe
altitude, at
least 3,000
feet AGL.

Flight control and stability check.

30 JANUARY 2011

Landing at the end of the test flight.

There is nothing more exciting than a test flight in a strange airplane. When I
first flew the Command-Aire from the Lakeland, Florida, airport in 1989, however,
it felt like I had flown it before, perhaps in another life. It was sweet! After 11
long years of restoration, my pride and joy finally took to the air. This photograph
shows the Command-Aire taxiing back to the Sun n Fun museum hangar after
the successful test flight.
Airspeed control on final is critical to making good
three-point landings. I have flown the Command-Aire
since 1989 and have many takeoffs and landings in all
types of wind conditions, so I have the three-point attitude memorized. I flare the airplane out to that threepoint attitude and hold it until a full-stall landing
occurs at minimum airspeed. I even three-point land
the airplane in crosswinds.
The important point to remember is, the test flight
is a check of systems, stability, and control. Make notes
carefully so adjustments can be made in a controlled
fashion. The airplane must be slowly tweaked until it
flies just right. The photo above shows the New Standard completing a fly-by at low altitude for all those
in attendance to see this beautiful airplane close up.
Note that ailerons and elevator are streamlined, giving
a clue that the rigging of the airplane is really close.
Now go out and have some fun with that great biplane! Good luck and happy flying!
Editors Note: EAAs Flight Advisor program isnt just
for homebuilders; its for any pilot who is preparing to
test fly his newly constructed or restored aircraft. You can
learn more about the program on the Web at www.eaa.
org/flightadvisors. To find a Flight Advisor, log in to EAAs
online community at www.Oshkosh365.org and click on
the EAA Members Only tab in the bar; on the left side
youll see a listing for the program under the Flying heading. We urge anyone contemplating a first flight to take
advantage of this important member benefit!
HGF

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 31

Vintage
Instructor
THE

BY Steve Krog, CFI

Was that a landing? Or was

it a carnival ride?
eldom is an incident or
an accident the result of
a single major mistake or
system failure. Rather, it
is the combination of a series of little mistakes that compound as the
flight continues. This is the story of
one of those incidents that demonstrates how little mistakes do accumulate. The result was painless and
inexpensive, but it could have been
much worse.
While doing pattern work with a
student, we landed, completed our
back taxi, announced our intentions
on the radio, and began taxiing into
position for a takeoff on Runway
29. Out of the corner of my eye, I
noticed an airplane that appeared
to be entering the traffic pattern for
a landing on Runway 11. Neither
the student nor I recognized the airplane other than it was a tailwheel
aircraft. My student immediately
demonstrated good common sense
and stated, Im not sure what hes
up to, and taxied off the runway
until he could determine what the
new arrival was going to do.
The arriving airplane turned final and appeared to be aligned with
the turf immediately adjoining the
hard-surface runway. We both noted
that this could be interesting, as
the wind was blowing about 10-12
mph from the northwest, creating a
downwind landing situation.
After turning final the airplane
continued drifting southward toward the hard-surface runway. Be-

32 JANUARY 2011

fore touching down (the first time),

he was nearly off the runway, with
his right wing overhanging the
runway lights. The touchdown was
hard, the aircraft bounced quite
high, and it appeared that a lot of
left rudder was being applied as the
nose swung to the left. The second
touchdown caused the plane to veer
hard to the left, and the carnival
ride began. He exited the runway
to the left and rolled into a shallow
drainage ditch, which launched the
aircraft a third time. While airborne
the nose began a swing to the right.
On the final touchdown, the airplane executed a full ground loop
to the left.
I shouted to my student, Watch
the wingtips! but the arriving pilot was quite lucky. While riding
out a full 360-degree ground loop,
the wingtips never touched the
ground, nor did the tail ever come
off the ground. Once stopped, the
airplane was pointing northwest
into the wind.
The pilot who rode out this
spectacular arrival was quite
shaken and remained in the airplane for quite some time before
getting his courage up to exit and
look at the airplane.
Some time later I had an opportunity to speak with the pilot. Still
quite shaken, he began explaining
what he thought had happened.
After allowing time for him to vent
and start to relax, we reviewed what
had happened step-by-step. Heres

how the scenario played out.

It all began on a sunny fall afternoon. While driving home from
work, Dick* decided it would be a
good day to do a little flying. Arriving at the airport he met John, his
friend from the next hangar, who
also planned to do some flying.
John had already completed his
preflight and was ready to depart
causing Dick to hurry his preflight,
so that they could depart together.
Small problem No. 1.
Dick hurriedly entered the cockpit and sat down hard in the seat.
He thought he heard a sound like
metal cracking but decided to ignore it, as everything seemed normal. The engine was started, and
Dick began taxiing toward the
runway following his friend John.
While taxiing, Dick thought the
seat felt different but chose to ignore it. After all, he had never had
a previous problem with the seat.
Small problem No. 2.
Once in the air the two friends
decided to fly to a nearby airport
and get a little fuel. Dick fell a mile
or so behind John, because he
seemed to be having a bit of a problem with the rudder pedals. The airplane wanted to yaw to one side.
It was easily controlled, so Dick
didnt think it was much of a problem. Small problem No. 3.
Dick didnt see John enter the
traffic pattern and land, but he did
observe that John was already at
the gas island. Not wanting to hold

John up, Dick decided to enter the

traffic pattern and land as quickly as
possible. After all, the surface winds
when they departed were light and
variable. He entered on a left downwind for landing on Runway 11.
The wind was blowing from the
northwest at 10-12 mph, favoring
Runway 29. Small problem No. 4.
Turning final, Dick noticed that
it was hard to keep the airplane
aligned with the runway, and things
seemed to be happening a bit faster
than normal. The rudder pedals felt
uneven, and every time he relaxed
the right rudder the airplane rapidly
drifted to the left, causing him to
overapply the right rudder, making
the airplane drift to the right. Small
problem No. 5.
Rather than opting to go around
and land on a 200-foot-wide turf
runway, Dick continued his approach to 11, hoping he could prevent the airplane from running off
the runway. Small problem No. 6.
The touchdown was hard, and
he bounced fairly high. While in
the bounce, the plane wanted to
veer hard to the left. Continuing
with the landing, Dick tried to reposition his right foot on the right
brake. But this caused him to relax
on the right rudder, allowing the
airplane to yaw even more to the
left. Small problem No. 7.
The second touchdown was
also quite hard, rapidly causing
a second bounce and allowing
little or no braking action. A second metal crunch was heard, and
the seat slid back and down. Small
problem No. 8.
Heading for the left side of the
runway, Dick was now just along
for the ride. All he could do was
hang on and keep the stick back.
T h e p l a n e e x i t e d t h e r u n w a y,
rolled into the drainage ditch, and
again bounced back into the air.
When it touched down the final
time, it proceeded to complete a
full 360-degree ground loop before finally coming to rest, pointing in the direction from which it
came. No contact was made with
runway lights, and the wingtip

never touched the ground.

Upon close examination of the
airplane, we found the seat was
broken in two places. The initial
break probably occurred when
Dick first entered the airplane. The
second happened on the second
bounce while he was trying to jam
the brake pedal to the floor, causing
him to lose control of the airplane.
Further, we found one tail spring
and clip missing. It probably happened on takeoff, causing the rudder directional control problems
encountered during the flight and
especially on landing. This would
cause uneven pressure on one rudder pedal while in flight and the
tail wheel to be cocked to one side
when touching down.
Could this spectacular arrival
have been prevented? The sound
of metal cracking upon first getting
seated in the airplane should have
caused a red flag to be raised. Even
though it felt okay, something just
wasnt right. Secondly, a more thor-

ough preflight may have found

the tail wheel spring in need of attention. Finally, being in a hurry
and somewhat preoccupied withthe rudder problem, Dick failed
to check the windsock for surface
winds and most favorable runway,
leading to a downwind landing.
The combination of a broken
seat, missing tail wheel spring, and
downwind landing caused quite a
ride for Dick. Thankfully the only
thing broken was the seat frame; no
other damage was done other than
Dicks bruised ego.
The airplane has already been
repaired, and new tail wheel control springs have been properly installed. Once the weather improves,
Dick and I have scheduled some
dual flights to repair his bruised ego!
*As you can imagine, weve
changed the names to avoid needlessly embarrassing a fellow pilot.
We can all imagine how it would be
to fly in his moccasins!

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 33

by H.G. FRAUTSCHY

MYSTERY PLANE
This months Mystery Plane comes to us via Wes Smith. It is a twin of
foreign manufacture and registration.

Send your answer to EAA,

Vintage Airplane, P.O. Box 3086,
Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Your
answer needs to be in no later
than February 15 for inclusion

in the April 2011 issue of

Vintage Airplane.
You can also send your response via e-mail. Send your
answer to mysteryplane@eaa.org.

Be sure to include your name

plus your city and state in the
body of your note and put
(Month) Mystery Plane in the
subject line.

OCTOBERS MYSTERY ANSWER

We enjoy your suggestions for
Myster y Planesin fact, more
than half of our subjects are sent
to us by members, often via e-mail.
Please remember that if you want
to scan the photo for use in Mystery Plane, it must be at a resolution of 300 dpi or greater. You may
send a lower-resolution version to
us for our review, but the final version has to be at that level of detail
or it will not print properly. Also,
please let us know where the photo

34 JANUARY 2011

came from; we dont want to willfully violate someones copyright.

Octobers Mystery Plane came to
us from Duffy Thompson of Lakeland, Florida, who was given a book
of aircraft photos that belonged to
the late Don O.W. Emerson.
Our fi rst mailed response came
to us from Tom Lymburn of Princeton, Minnesota:
The October Mystery Plane is the
Curtiss XPW-8 (Model 33) first prototype. It was given serial number

23-1201 after purchase by the Army

on 27 April 1923. It had flown in
January, with the rather cumbersome moniker of Curtiss Pursuit Airplane, Experimental Type I. Given
the Wright Field test number P-295,
it was converted at one point as a fake
two-seater to be entered in the 1923
Pulitzer race as the CO-X, but was disqualified. It was finally surveyed at
McCook Field on 21 February 1925.
Curtiss began development in September 1922 around its 440-hp D-12

engine, featuring flush-top wing radiators. Parts of the design were influenced by Curtiss R-6 and R2C/E3C
racers. These flush-mounted wing radiators were meant to reduce drag but
tended to leak, dumping hot water on
the pilot. They would also have been
very vulnerable in combat! Eventually, three XPW-8 prototypes were
constructed (23-1202 to 23-1203)
and 25 PW-8 (PW = pursuit, watercooled) production aircraft (24-201 to
24-225) were ordered on 14 September 1923. They were delivered from
June to August 1924. Armed with a
pair of .30-caliber Marlin machine
guns, the PW-8 had a top speed of
165 mph at sea level, a range of 440
miles, and a ceiling of 23,300 feet.
The PW-8 led to the more famous P-1
Hawk series of Curtiss fighters.
PW-8s were assigned to the 1st
Pursuit Group at Selfridge Field,
some even flying on skis. Lt. Russell
Maughan flew PW-8 (24-204) from
Long Island, New York, to San Francisco on 23 June 1924, in a famous
dawn to dusk flight that lasted 23
hours and 48 minutes with five refueling stops. It covered 2,607 miles.
Maughan had previously attempted
two such flights in the prototype,
23-1201.
A similar photo of 23-1201 in the
snow, but with a pilot in the cockpit,
appears in Wagners American Com-

bat Planes of the 20th Century

and Dean and Hagedorns Curtiss
Fighter Aircraft: A photographic
History 1917-1948.
And some additional information from Wes Smith of Springfield, Illinois:
While Peter M. Bowers refers to
the PW-8 in Curtiss Aircraft 19071947 as the Model 33 (company designation L-18-1), I side with Dean
and Hagedorn as they quote from
the original report written by D.C.
Maier, and the photo clearly does depict the prototype, which was somewhat different; the report goes on
to state that the prototype only was
the L-18-1, not production PW-8s,
which were based on the second prototype. It should be mentioned that
the U.S. Air Service (USAS) type

designations were a postwar system

of categorizing aircraft by their function and powerplant and ran from the
Type I through the Type XV. The
Type I (Roman numeral for one) referred to pursuit, water-cooled types
(PW-1 to PW-9).
Design of the prototype machine was announced to the USAS in
September of 1922, and the prototype
was flown on January 23, 1923. The
new aircraft used the Curtiss D-12
engine, a development of the wartime
Curtiss-Kirkham K-12 (by way of the
intermediate CD-12, Curtiss, Direct
Drive, later simplified to D-12)
designed by Charles B. Kirkham. By
April of 1923, the USAS had shown
an interest in the aircraft and sent
Maier from McCook Field to the Curtiss factory in order to test-fly and ex-

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 35

amine the machine. Impressed, the

USAS appears to have purchased the
aircraft as the XPW-8 (A.S. 23-1201;
McCook Field Project Number P-295
was added in May 1923). After its
acquisition, on April 27, 1923, it was
redesignated as a Curtiss Pursuit
Type I - PW-8, the first aircraft in
the U.S. Army to be designed solely as
a pursuit airplane. Bowers states that
the application of the X prefix was
actually not used until it was adopted
in March 1924.
Nevertheless, after the procurement of the fi rst three prototype aircraft (A.S. 1201-1203), a contract
for 25 aircraft (A.S. 24-20124225; MSN 10503-10528) followed
in September 1923, and Curtiss applied the L-18-2/PW-8 company designation to production aircraft. The
second prototype was dimensionally
somewhat larger than the L-18-1/
PW-8, and the radiator area was increased. The chord of the upper wing
was extended, ailerons were added to
the lower wings, and the vertical fin
had an increased area. The rudder
size and shape was altered, and the
interplane gap was increased somewhat, increasing the height. An aerodynamic balance area was added to
the vertical rudder, and the overall
length was slightly increased. The
span remained the same, but the airfoil was changed to the Curtiss C-62,
and the positive load factor was increased from a maximum of 8 to 12.
The L-18-2 had a Curtiss EX29048
wooden prop and a low-compression
D-12 fitted. An additional aircraft,
not a true PW-8, was also exported to
Japan in 1930. The production PW8s were delivered from June 14 to August 14, 1924.
The prototype aircraft can be identified by the slightly indented cowling between the cylinder banks and
complex split-axle undercarriage,
which was probably the first to use
rubber discs in compression. This
was simplified on the L-18-2 and
all subsequent aircraft. The PW-8
series is remembered for the unique
surface evaporative cooling system,
adopted from the earlier R-6 racers.
In this system, the water from the en-

36 JANUARY 2011

gine flowed into twin header tanks

on the dorsal side of the upper wing,
ran across corrugated cores and back
to the engine. The unique compartmentalized construction of the wings
utilized multiple spars in place of the
more traditional two-spar system. Lt.
Russell Lowell Maughan, a combat
veteran of the 139th Aero Squadron
during World War I, twice attempted
(unsuccessfully) to make the socalled dusk to dawn transcontinen-

The second
prototype was
dimensionally
somewhat larger
than the L-18-1/
PW-8, and the
radiator area
was increased.
tal flight in July of 1923, using the
prototype machine. He accomplished
this feat the following year on June
24, 1924, using the fourth production PW-8 (A.S. 24-204) modified
with additional fuel tanks (75-gallon
main, 47-gallon rear, and 45-gallon
drop tank; McCook P-361). The first
several PW-8s were used as test aircraft. A.S. 24-202 (P-358) was fitted
with an external supercharger. The
third prototype (L-18-3) was com-

pleted as the PW-8A. In addition to

modified wings, it was later fitted
with the chin-mounted tunnel radiator, which became standard on the
Curtiss P-1 series.
P W- 8 s w e r e o p e r a t e d b y t h e
1st Pursuit Squadron at Selfridge
Field, Michigan, and were fitted with
skis for winter operations. In service,
PW-8s were retrofitted with CurtissReed forged duraluminum propellers
for higher speeds. On July 11, 1923,
the L-18-1 was authorized by the
chief of the USAS to be modified into
a two-place aircraft in order to compete in the third event of the 1923
Pulitzer Race, which was to be held
at Lambert Field, St. Louis. In addition to the rear observers cockpit, the
original Curtiss X-9048 was initially
replaced with a Curtiss EX29048-A
wooden propeller. This in turn was
replaced with a new Curtiss-Reed. A
high-compression D-12 was also fitted, and on September 24, 1923, the
aircraft was redesignated as the CO-X
(corps observation, experimental).
However, the U.S. Navy protested,
based on the fact that this was not
a true operational observation type,
and hence, the St. Louis Air Board
was forced to disqualify the aircraft.
Sadly, the aircraft ended its days at
McCook Field, being disposed of on
February 25, 1925.
The continued evolution of the prototype aircraft through the PW-8 series is a complex one, in which many
modifications were made along the
way. The eloquent and definitive
history of this aircraft is given in
the aforementioned Dean/Hagedorn
book, and I refer one and all to that
worthy tome for a detailed history.
Additionally, two drawings of the
PW-8 have been made over the years.
The first, a William Wylam drawing,
and the second, by Paul R. Matt. A
great description of the PW-8 can
also be found in Peter Bowers book
Curtiss Aircraft 1907-1947, and in
Aviation, July 14, 1924 (V.17 N.2.
The Curtiss PW-8 Pursuit Plane
Described: Story of the Development of This Plane From Racing
Experience and Its Chief Constructional Features, pp 746-748).

VINTAGE
TRADER

S o m e t h i n g t o b u y,
sell, or trade?
Classified Word Ads: $5.50 per 10 words,
180 words maximum, with boldface lead-in
on first line.
Classified Display Ads: One column wide
(2.167 inches) by 1, 2, or 3 inches high at
$20 per inch. Black and white only, and no
frequency discounts.
Advertising Closing Dates: 10th of second
month prior to desired issue date (i.e., January
10 is the closing date for the March issue). VAA
reser ves the right to reject any adver tising in
conflict with its policies. Rates cover one insertion
per issue. Classified ads are not accepted via
phone. Payment must accompany order. Word
ads may be sent via fax (920-426-4828) or e-mail
(classads@eaa.org) using credit card payment (all
cards accepted). Include name on card, complete
address, type of card, card number, and expiration
date. Make checks payable to EAA. Address
advertising correspondence to EAA Publications
Classified Ad Manager, P.O. Box 3086, Oshkosh,
WI 54903-3086.

MISCELLANEOUS

Upcom ing M ajor Fly-Ins

U.S. Sport Aviation Expo
Sebring Regional Airport (SEF), Sebring,
Florida
January 20-23, 2011
www.Sport-Aviation-Expo.com

Golden West Regional Fly-In and Air Show

Yuba County Airport (MYV), Marysville,
California
June 10-12, 2011
www.GoldenWestFlyIn.org

Sun n Fun Fly-In

Lakeland Linder Regional Airport (LAL),
Lakeland, Florida
March 29-April 3, 2011
www.Sun-N-Fun.org

Arlington Fly-In
Arlington Municipal Airport (AWO),
Arlington, Washington
July 6-10, 2011
www.ArlingtonFlyIn.org

AERO Friedrichshafen
Messe Friedrichshafen,
Friedrichshafen, Germany
April 13-16, 2011
www.AERO-Friedrichshafen.com/html/
en

EAA AirVenture Oshkosh

Wittman Regional Airport (OSH),
Oshkosh, Wisconsin
July 25-31, 2011
www.AirVenture.org

Virginia Regional Festival of Flight

Suffolk Executive Airport (SFQ),
Suffolk, Virginia
April 30-May 1, 2011
www.VirginiaFlyIn.org

Colorado Sport International Air Show

and Rocky Mountain
Regional Fly-In
Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport
(BJC), Denver, Colorado
August 27-28, 2011
www.COSportAviation.org

EAA Calendar of Aviation Events Is Now Online

EAAs online Calendar of Events is the go-to spot on the Web to list and find aviation events in your
area. The user-friendly, searchable format makes it the perfect web-based tool for planning your local trips
to a fly-in. We invite you to access the EAA online Calendar of Events at http://www.eaa.org/calendar/

AIRPLANE T-SHIRTS 150 different

airplanes available. WE PROBABLY
HAVE YOUR AIRPLANE! www.
airplanetshirts.com or call 1-800645-7739. We also do Custom
T-shirts and Caps for Clubs.
www.aerolist.org, Aviations Leading
Marketplace.

SERVICES
Always Flying Aircraft Restoration,
LLC: Annual Inspections, Airframe
recovering, fabric repairs and
complete restorations. Wayne A.
Forshey A&P & I.A. 740-472-1481
Ohio and bordering states.
Biplane Builder Ltd. Restoration, fabric,
paint, fabrications, paperwork with
53 completed projects, Wacos,
Moths, Champs, Pitts etc. Test flights
and delivery. Indiana 812-343-8879
mike@biplanebuilder.com, www.
biplanebuilder.com.

Stop worrying, Fred! I had the map printed on

Poly-Fiber. What could possibly go wrong?

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polyfiber.com
information@polyfiber.com

800-362-3490
VINTAGE AIRPLANE 37

ets.ts
k
c
i
t
ke
ture.org/tic
n
e
e
V
Air entur

r
rV
youw at Ai
n
e o e no
Savy onlin
Bu

Its gonna be
a big day. All
week long.
This year weve packed each day
(and evening) of AirVenture with
special events and attractions
youll want to plan around.
Monday, July 25
Opening Day Concert

Tuesday, July 26
Tribute to Bob Hoover

Wednesday, July 27
Navy Day

Thursday, July 28
Tribute to Burt Rutan

Friday, July 29
Salute to Veterans

Saturday, July 30
Night Air Show Returns

Sunday, July 31
Big Finale, the Military Scramble

Join us for a big celebration of

the 100th Anniversary of Naval
Aviation. See it all, from the Curtiss
Pusher replica to the Navys hottest
hardware. All week long.

Advance tickets made possible by

VINTAGE
AIRCRAFT
ASSOCIATION
OFFICERS
President
Geoff Robison
1521 E. MacGregor Dr.
New Haven, IN 46774
260-493-4724
chief7025@aol.com

Vice-President
George Daubner
N57W34837 Pondview Ln
Oconomowoc, WI 53066
262-560-1949
gdaubner@eaa.org

Secretary
Steve Nesse
2009 Highland Ave.
Albert Lea, MN 56007
507-373-1674
stnes2009@live.com

Treasurer
Dan Knutson
106 Tena Marie Circle
Lodi, WI 53555
608-592-7224
lodicub@charter.net

DIRECTORS

Steve Bender
85 Brush Hill Road
Sherborn, MA 01770
508-653-7557
sst10@comcast.net

Dale A. Gustafson
7724 Shady Hills Dr.
Indianapolis, IN 46278
317-293-4430
dalefaye@msn.com

David Bennett
375 Killdeer Ct
Lincoln, CA 95648
916-952-9449
antiquer@inreach.com

Jeannie Hill
P.O. Box 328
Harvard, IL 60033-0328
815-943-7205

Jerry Brown
4605 Hickory Wood Row
Greenwood, IN 46143
317-422-9366
lbrown4906@aol.com
Dave Clark
635 Vestal Lane
Plainfield, IN 46168
317-839-4500
davecpd@att.net
John S. Copeland
1A Deacon Street
Northborough, MA 01532
508-393-4775
copeland1@juno.com
Phil Coulson
28415 Springbrook Dr.
Lawton, MI 49065
269-624-6490
rcoulson516@cs.com

Espie Butch Joyce

704 N. Regional Rd.
Greensboro, NC 27409
336-668-3650
windsock@aol.com
Steve Krog
1002 Heather Ln.
Hartford, WI 53027
262-966-7627
sskrog@aol.com
Robert D. Bob Lumley
1265 South 124th St.
Brookfield, WI 53005
262-782-2633
lumper@execpc.com
S.H. Wes Schmid
2359 Lefeber Avenue
Wauwatosa, WI 53213
414-771-1545
shschmid@gmail.com

DIRECTORS
EMERITUS
Robert C. Brauer
9345 S. Hoyne
Chicago, IL 60643
773-779-2105
photopilot@aol.com

Charlie Harris
PO Box 470350
Tulsa, OK 74147
918-622-8400
cwh@hvsu.com

Gene Chase
2159 Carlton Rd.
Oshkosh, WI 54904
920-231-5002
GRCHA@charter.net

E.E. Buck Hilbert

8102 Leech Rd.
Union, IL 60180
815-923-4591
buck7ac@gmail.com

Ronald C. Fritz
15401 Sparta Ave.
Kent City, MI 49330
616-678-5012
rFritz@pathwaynet.com

Gene Morris
5936 Steve Court
Roanoke, TX 76262
817-491-9110
genemorris@charter.net

John Turgyan
PO Box 219
New Egypt, NJ 08533
609-758-2910
jrturgyan4@aol.com

TM

Membership Services Directory

Enjoy the many benefits of EAA and
EAAs Vintage Aircraft Association

TM

EAA Aviation Center, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh WI 54903-3086

Phone (920) 426-4800

Fax (920) 426-4873

Web Sites: www.vintageaircraft.org, www.airventure.org, www.eaa.org/memberbenefits E-Mail: vintageaircraft@eaa.org

EAA and Division Membership Services (8:00 AM6:00 PM

MondayFriday CST)
membership@eaa.org
800-564-6322
FAX 920-426-4873
www.eaa.org/memberbenefits
New/renew memberships Address changes Merchandise sales Gift memberships
EAA AirVenture Oshkosh
888-322-4636
www.airventure.org
Sport Pilot/Light-Sport Aircraft Hotline 877-359-1232
www.sportpilot.org
Programs and Activities
Auto Fuel STCs
920-426-4843
EAA Air Academy
920-426-6880
www.airacademy.org
EAA Scholarships
920-426-6823
Library Services/Research
920-426-4848
Benefits
AUA Vintage Insurance Plan
800-727-3823
www.auaonline.com
EAA Aircraft Insurance Plan
866-647-4322
www.eaa.org/memberbenefits
EAA VISA Card
800-853-5576 ext. 8884
EAA Hertz Rent-A-Car Program
800-654-2200
www.eaa.org/hertz
VAA Editorial/Executive Director
920-426-4825
www.vintageaircraft.org
VAA Office
920-426-6110

airventure@eaa.org
sportpilot@eaa.org
dwalker@eaa.or
airacademy@eaa.org
scholarships@eaa.org
slurvey@eaa.org

membership@eaa.org
membership@eaa.org
vintage@eaa.org
tbooks@eaa.org

EAA Members Information Line

888-EAA-INFO (322-4636)
Use this toll-free number for: information about AirVenture Oshkosh; aeromedical and technical aviation questions;
chapters; and Young Eagles. Please have your membership number ready when calling.
Office hours are 8:15 a.m. - 5:00 p.m. (Monday - Friday, CST)

MEMBERSHIP INFORMATION
EAA
Membership in the Experimental Aircraft
Association, Inc. is $40 for one year, including 12 issues of SPORT AVIATION. Family
membership is an additional $10 annually. All
major credit cards accepted for membership.
(Add $16 for International Postage.)

FOREIGN MEMBERSHIPS
Please submit your remittance with a
check or draft drawn on a United States
bank payable in United States dollars. Add
required Foreign Postage amount for each
membership.

VINTAGE AIRCRAFT ASSOCIATION

Current EAA members may join the
Vintage Aircraft Association and receive
VINTAGE AIRPLANE magazine for an
additional $36 per year.
EAA Membership, VINTAGE AIRPLANE
magazine and one year membership in the EAA
Vintage Aircraft Association is available for $46 per

year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included).

(Add $7 for International Postage.)

WARBIRDS
Current EAA members may join the EAA
Warbirds of America Division and receive
WARBIRDS magazine for an additional
$45 per year.
EAA Membership, WARBIRDS magazine and one year membership in the
Warbirds Division is available for $55 per
year (SPORT OficAVIATION magazine
not included). (Add $7 for International
Postage.)

IAC

Current EAA members may join the

International Aerobatic Club, Inc. Division and receive SPORT AEROBATICS
magazine for an additional $45 per year.
EAA Membership, SPORT AEROBATICS magazine and one year membership
in the IAC Division is available for $55 per
year (SPORT AVIATION magazine not included). (Add $15 for Foreign Postage.)

Membership dues to EAA and its divisions are not tax deductible as charitable contributions

Copyright 2011 by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association, All rights reserved.
VINTAGE AIRPLANE (USPS 062-750; ISSN 0091-6943) is published and owned exclusively by the EAA Vintage Aircraft Association of the Experimental Aircraft Association and is published monthly at EAA Aviation Center, 3000 Poberezny Rd., PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54903-3086, e-mail: vintageaircraft@eaa.org. Membership to Vintage Aircraft Association, which includes 12 issues of Vintage Airplane magazine,
is $36 per year for EAA members and $46 for non-EAA members. Periodicals Postage paid at Oshkosh, Wisconsin 54901 and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to Vintage Airplane,
PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. PM 40063731 Return undeliverable Canadian addresses to Pitney Bowes IMS, Station A, PO Box 54, Windsor, ON N9A 6J5. FOREIGN AND APO ADDRESSES Please allow
at least two months for delivery of VINTAGE AIRPLANE to foreign and APO addresses via surface mail. ADVERTISING Vintage Aircraft Association does not guarantee or endorse any product offered through the
advertising. We invite constructive criticism and welcome any report of inferior merchandise obtained through our advertising so that corrective measures can be taken.
EDITORIAL POLICY: Members are encouraged to submit stories and photographs. Policy opinions expressed in articles are solely those of the authors. Responsibility for accuracy in reporting rests entirely with
the contributor. No remuneration is made. Material should be sent to: Editor, VINTAGE AIRPLANE, PO Box 3086, Oshkosh, WI 54903-3086. Phone 920-426-4800.
EAA and EAA SPORT AVIATION, the EAA Logo and Aeronautica are registered trademarks, trademarks, and service marks of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. The use of these trademarks and
service marks without the permission of the Experimental Aircraft Association, Inc. is strictly prohibited.

VINTAGE AIRPLANE 39

Black Carry Tote

This roomy leather tote is equiped with all the essentials for an
over night trip. 5265032500000

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Leather Briefcase
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Brown Carry Tote

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trips where an overnight bag is needed.
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Leather Flight Cap

In the cockpit or out in the elements, this hat is perfect for warmth.
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Vintage B-15A Bomber Jacket

This jacket is a replica of the 1946 issue. Quilted lining
with strategic air command print. 100% cotton shell,
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collar is removable. Mens sizing.
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Telephone Orders: 800-843-3612
From US and Canada (All Others Call 920-426-5912)
*Shipping and handling NOT included. Major credit cards accepted.
WI residents add 5% sales tax.

40 JANUARY 2011